


Caring for Clarke

by what_a_catch



Series: Safe Places [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-05-05 03:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5358554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/what_a_catch/pseuds/what_a_catch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Militias dot the countryside, armed to the teeth and usually pretty savage. The dreaded Capitol tries to restore order with a fallen leader. There is only one "good" militia, and it's made of teenagers.<br/>A displaced medic is in a bad spot, fleeing from nearly everyone in a desperate bid to protect herself. The teenagers in the good militia take her in and try to heal her and protect her. The leader gets major heart eyes. Everyone adopts their new friend. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Opening the Gates

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. This should be multi-chapter, but it could very well be awhile before I update again. I'm sorry if there are any issues with it- I try to proofread, but most of it is typed on my phone and I suck with touchscreens.  
> Hope you enjoy, and I'm happy to take requests for this fic. It should be pretty long when I'm done!

"Hey! We've got an incoming!" One guard shouted to another as the iron gates swung open and three guns cocked. As bad of form as it was to receive every guest with a small firing squad, Bellamy found that it was better safe than sorry.  
The afore-mentioned leader elected to ignore his men's shouts from the wall- he had things to do. But when Miller, his second-in-command, came barging in, he had to pull away.  
"What is it?" He asked tiredly. It was late for all of them.  
"There's a woman approaching the wall, but she's acting weird. I think she's hurt. Permission to make contact?" Miller replied, trying to appeal to Bellamy's paternal side (if he still had one).  
"I'll go." Bellamy volunteered. "I need a break anyway."  
Miller was pleased. "Okay. We'll cover you."

Bellamy strode bravely through the gates, conscious of the loaded guns at his back to protect him from the slip of a woman in front of him.  
She was tiny and filthy- kind of like a waif floating aimlessly through the forest. Bellamy's skilled eyes could not see much of her, only her thin hands, bare feet, long light hair, and pale face. She must have been wearing dark clothing.  
"Hello?" He called to her, still a good thirty feet away.  
She visibly started, a pale hand resting protectively over a swollen stomach. She was pregnant.  
Bellamy didn't mean to scare her, but now he was determined to get her safely inside the walls. It was not healthy for a woman as far along as she was to walk much, let alone over such uneven terrain.  
"Hello? I won't hurt you. I'm unarmed." He tried again, approaching her slowly.  
She stopped her wanderings and finally looked in his direction, appearing to see him for the first true time. "H.. hello?" She stuttered out.  
Bellamy neared her quickly, stopping six feet from where she stood frozen, her hands cradling her abdomen. "I won't hurt you." He reiterated gently, looking into her brilliant blue eyes. "I'd like for you to come inside our camp for the night. It's safer."  
The woman contemplated his request until something seemed to suddenly make up her mind. "Thank you. I appreciate your protection." She replied, her tone and words holding a shattered visage of a ruler's grace.

Bellamy offered the woman his arm to help her across any roots and/or plants that were growing on the path and making it largely unsafe.  
She took it gingerly, testing his capability and willingness to help her. Truth be told, she was tired of walking- her abdomen hurt and the baby wouldn't stop kicking. She just needed to sit down for a moment, then she could be on her way.  
Bellamy waved the gunmen away before the woman could see them and be alarmed and they hid the guns quickly. Miller watched anxiously from the gate with a gun strapped to his back, but he would not touch it when the woman was near. He could already tell she was gun-shy (literally).

When the woman tripped over a dark root, Bellamy's arms came tightly around her until she was steady on her feet again.  
She groaned softly, her free hand pressed firmly to her abdomen, and gripped Bellamy's arm tighter with her other.  
Bellamy wished they had a medic- she was obviously not healthy.  
Seeing the woman stumble, Miller rushed out to meet them. "Hey. My name's Miller. I'm not going to hurt you." He introduced himself to the woman, meeting her eyes. "I'm going to help you inside. The path kind of sucks."  
Bellamy nodded appreciatively.  
The woman's eyes grew wide, but she accepted his help.  
Miller took her other arm, allowing her to grip his hand as she stumbled over the bumps in the dirt. Bellamy was supporting most of her light weight, but she still moved slowly, swaying between the two men unsteadily.

When they were safely inside the wall, Bellamy excused himself to go get Monty and Murphy, the closest things to medics that the militia had. "I'll be right back, okay? Miller's going to take you inside so you can lie down." He assured the woman.  
She nodded, moving the arm Bellamy had just released to cradle her abdomen again.  
Miller gave her an encouraging half smile. "Okay. We'll go slowly, alright? Just take it easy." He could guess how hard it was to walk that far into term- he remembered his dad's friends when they were expecting: it had seemed like a pain in the butt for them to do anything. He felt for them.  
She nodded. "Thank you."  
"Sure." Miller gladly helped her to the cabin they used as the infirmary and settled her on one of the beds against the wall. She declined to lie down, so he propped her on some pillows and blankets with her feet still on the floor and her back to the wall so she was at least reclining to give the baby some space.  
He knelt in front of her and watched her pale hands wander over her abdomen slowly, twitching every so often when the baby kicked. "The little guy's a mover,huh?" He commented after an especially powerful kick.  
The woman nodded, exhaling slowly. "Yeah. They started and just won't stop."  
Miller didn't know much about pregnancy, or the human anatomy, for that matter, but he didn't think that was supposed to happen. "When did they start going at it?" He asked, watching yet another foot or fist push against the woman's skin.  
"Maybe an hour, hour and a half ago?" She replied, following his gaze down to her stomach.  
"Okay. I think it's just their way of going "Mom, chill out!" They should be fine once you've rested a while..." Miller then realized he didn't know what to call her. "I, uh, never got your name."  
"Clarke." The woman replied.  
"Great to meet you, Clarke." Miller had not forgotten his manners as many of his militia-mates had. "The other guy who was helping you was Bellamy. He's our leader... sort of."  
Clarke nodded and smiled at Miller's reference to his leader. "Thank you for helping me."  
"My pleasure." Miller replied honestly. "Are you comfortable?"  
Clarke nodded. The little one kicked her in the side and she hissed in pain, barely hiding a whimper.  
Miller's hands were over hers in a second, hovering an inch above the impact point. "May I?" He had no right to touch anyone unless they said so- he wasn't about to assume Clarke would be okay with being touched by a stranger.  
She nodded.  
Miller moved her hand and gently probed around the area, his fingers coming back red. He was about to tell her she was bleeding when Murphy, Monty and Bellamy came busting in.

"What's going on?" Murphy asked Miller, kneeling on the other side of Clarke's legs. Monty stood back and examined her from a distance, trying to give her some space.  
"The baby's been kicking almost nonstop for over an hour and she's bleeding over here." Miller showed Murphy the blood.  
"Gotcha." Murphy addressed Clarke next. "Hi. I'm Murphy. Monty over there and I are gonna try and help you, okay?"  
"Hi, boys." Clarke greeted them. "I'm Clarke."  
"Nice to meet you." Monty told her, stepping a bit closer. Bellamy stood by the door with a gun.

Murphy was already occupied with Miller and Clarke's injury. Clarke had her eyes firmly shut as Murphy poked at the tender area lightly. Clarke was wearing a black dress, so they couldn't see the origin of the blood or lift the fabric to find out. Being a room full of boys, things got pretty awkward pretty fast.  
"Bellamy," Monty spoke after a moment, "could you go find Octavia and ask her to come in here? I think we need a girl."  
Murphy and Miller heartily agreed. Bellamy was just wondering why anyone would want Octavia. Of anyone, his little sister was the last person he'd want around if he was in pain.  
"If you say so." He relented, though. He also determined that he'd find something clean for their new guest to change into that lent itself more to treating her wound.

Bellamy ducked back out into the night and Clarke shivered from the wave of cool air the door ushered in. It was warm for a fall night, but, with what little she was wearing, Monty wasn't surprised she was cold. He pulled a blanket from one of the steel shelves lining the wall opposite the door and offered it to her. "You looked cold." He explained.  
Clarke was touched and grateful. She was always one extreme or the other now- a perpetual case of the chills.  
Monty helped her sit up slightly so he could wrap the blanket around her back to not obstruct Murphy's view of her injury and Murphy shifted back to give her space.  
It hurt her to be sitting up straight and the baby kicked violently until Monty settled her back against the pillows, but she was thankful to be warm.  
Miller's hand chased the baby's kicks across her abdomen, checking for damage as Murphy checked the rate of blood loss from her injury. Monty fussed over her for a minute, but all remained silent.

"How're you feeling, Clarke?" Murphy asked, sitting up after finishing as much of an exam as he could.  
Clarke took a deep breath. "I'm a bit dizzy and cold, but nothing serious. My stomach's sore, though."  
Monty could hear the exhaustion in her voice as clearly as Miller saw it in her eyes.  
"Okay." Murphy acknowledged, already thinking. "Does it help your dizziness to close your eyes?"  
Clarke tried and grabbed Monty's hand when the room flew out of focus.  
"That's a "no."" Monty answered for her, gently squeezing her hand.  
"That's okay, Clarke. Keep them open and on a fixed spot in the room." Miller advised.  
Clarke did as she was told, staring at a chair beside another bed on her right. The room seemed to twist and warp around that one chair, making her stomach turn, but she didn't care. She would do anything to not pass out.  
Monty continued to hold Clarke's hand as her eyes unfocused and refocused on the chair while Murphy and Miller were comparing theories while they waited for Octavia to arrive. There was nothing more they could do for her until Blake the Younger came.  
Octavia didn't want to get up when her brother started shaking her; she had just started to get tired. Her bed was warm and she didn't hear guns or screaming, so she figured it couldn't be that urgent, right? "What the heck, Bell?" She muttered, uncovering her head to glare at him.  
"Well, hi to you, too. Monty wants you in med." Bellamy was used to dealing with his cranky baby sister.  
"Why?" Octavia asked, only slightly more awake.  
"They've got a patient that wandered in and she needs your help." Bellamy smiled fondly at the thought of Monty, Miller, and Murphy trying to help Clarke and being total teenagers about it. "The boys are too awkward about it."  
Octavia actually summoned a little laugh at that. "What's wrong with her?"  
"She's pregnant and bleeding from her abdomen." Bellamy tried not to sound anxious. He remembered how careful his mom had had to be when she was pregnant with Octavia.

That got Octavia up. She, too, was aware of the potential ramifications of such an injury. "How far along is she?" She asked, lacing her boots.  
"Maybe seven, eight months." Bellamy sucked at guessing, but she was clearly pretty far.  
This news worried Octavia more. She grabbed her jacket and headed for the cabin door, but Bellamy stopped her. "Hey, O? She's wearing a dress. Is there anything she could change into that would make treating her easier?"  
Octavia stopped to think. "Is she thin?"  
Bellamy cringed to recall her sharp bones. "Very."  
"I think I have something. I'm borrowing one of your big shirts, okay?"  
Bellamy was used to Octavia taking his stuff. Just another joy of being the big brother.  
Octavia pulled open a drawer on Bellamy's side of the cabin and grabbed the biggest of his oversized shirt collection, thankful he hadn't gotten rid of them when she had told him to, though she would never say it aloud, and pulled a soft pair of leggings from a drawer of her own. "This good?" She held the stack up for her brother to see.  
"That'll be great. Come on."

Bellamy hurried Octavia along the path to the infirmary and ushered her inside, shutting the door quickly behind them. Clarke still shivered.  
Monty looked up from speaking with Clarke softly and spared Octavia a relieved smile. "Hey. Thanks for coming."  
Murphy and Miller, who were now standing by the long table at the back wall, ignored her.  
"Clarke," Monty called, squeezing Clarke's thin hand. "this is Octavia, Bellamy's sister. She's going to help you."  
Clarke nodded. "Hello." She could barely project her voice loud enough for Octavia to hear. The dizzy spells had really taken their toll on her, but luckily the baby had calmed down slightly. Clarke still continued to run her free hand over her stomach to keep the baby calm and herself awake. She was having trouble even seeing the chair now.  
"Hi." Octavia greeted the woman. Bellamy had been right- she was skinny. She had no idea someone that small could carry a kid. "The boys are going to step outside and I'm going to help you change clothes so we can treat your side without making it awkward."  
Clarke nodded, hating what it did to her vision.  
Monty gave her hand one last squeeze and released it onto the mattress beside her. "Clarke, we'll be right outside, okay?"  
"Okay. Thanks, Monty." Clarke whispered her reply, moving her head to try and focus her eyes on the boy.  
"Guys, come on." Bellamy called Murphy and Miller.  
The hum of hushed conversation stopped and Miller looked from Clarke to Bellamy before grabbing Murphy by the shoulder and pulling him out after Monty. "We'll be back." He told Clarke.  
Clarke knew they wouldn't hear her reply.

She hated that she couldn't see Octavia's face. Every time she tried to focus on something in particular her stomach would turn and her nausea would return with a vengeance. So she retreated into her own abstract painting where all the shapes and colors of the room blurred together nonsensically for the sake of her health.  
Octavia wasn't a fan of how the boys had positioned Clarke on the bed; she should have been lying down on her side on the length of the bed with her head slightly elevated. Instead, she was mostly sitting up with her bare feet brushing the floor, her back and head supported by a mound of pillows and blankets. Her abdomen barely had any room.  
"Clarke, the boys are gone." Octavia informed her gently, drawing closer. "Can you stand up one more time?"  
Clarke didn't think she could, but she was determined to try. "Sure." She replied, her voice thin.  
"Okay. We'll go slowly, and if you ever need to sit back down, just let me know." Octavia wasn't entirely comfortable with patients, but she had helped Monty out before, so she was developing some semblance of a bedside manner.

Octavia took Clarke's wrists and helped her stand just in front of the bed. Clarke swayed unsteadily, eyes wandering the room without seeing. Octavia knew she was in bad shape - she just hoped she could make it long enough to get her dress off and the shirt on.  
"Okay. Ready?" She asked Clarke, lifting the hem of her dress a few inches.  
"Yeah. Thanks." Clarke replied, blinking hard.  
Octavia pulled the dress carefully over Clarke's head, unsticking it from the drying blood that caked Clarke's left side, and set it aside to wash later.  
Goosebumps were already forming on Clarke's skin as she stood before Octavia, shivering.  
Octavia helped her slip the shirt over her head and it fit almost perfectly- just a bit smaller than she had hoped. "Do you need to sit down?" She checked with the blonde.  
"I'm okay." Clarke convinced herself.  
Octavia didn't believe her. "Okay. If you're sure."  
Clarke nodded, closing her eyes before doing so.  
"Okay. Let's do the leggings." Octavia guided Clarke's hand to rest on the bedpost of another bed so she had something to steady her when Octavia lifted her right foot from the ground.  
Clarke hated being dressed, and being undressed wasn't much better for that matter, but she knew the people were being kind, so she held her tongue.

Octavia had just finished when Clarke gasped, both hands flying to her abdomen. "I... I need to lie down."  
Octavia caught her before she could fall. "Okay. Here we go." She lowered her down to the bed, throwing all the blankets and excess pillows off the bed so Clarke could lay correctly on the bed.  
Clarke held her stomach protectively, biting her lower lip while Octavia looked on helplessly.  
"What's wrong, Clarke?" She asked gently.  
Clarke exhaled sharply. "I'm just dizzy and got really nauseous all of the sudden."  
Octavia nodded. "Take deep breaths, okay?"  
Clarke nodded, doing as she was told. The nausea passed eventually and her head stopped spinning. The baby stopped kicking, also.  
Octavia watched Clarke as she took deep breaths, her whole tiny body relaxing. "Better?" she murmured, stroking the woman's dirty blonde hair.  
Clarke nodded. "Thank you for everything, Octavia."  
"Oh, I'm not done yet." Octavia promised. "We've still got to treat your side. How did you get hurt?"  
"Um... I, uh, I think I hurt it a few months ago. The baby's kicking might have ripped out the stitches." Clarke guessed.  
"Okay. how did you hurt it in the first place?" Octavia asked, pulling Clarke's shirt up to expose her abdomen and subsequent wound.  
"A knife or sword. I don't remember which for sure."  
Octavia sighed. "What were you doing around weapons two months ago?"  
"It was an accident!" Clarke cried, running a trembling hand over her face.  
"Shh. Shh, it's okay. I'm not upset." Octavia was quick to assure her. "I'm sure you're right about the stitches and everything. Let's have a look. Are you comfortable with me getting Monty or Murphy in here to help? They know a bit more than I do."  
"Yeah. S-sorry about that." Clarke apologized, embarrassed at her outburst.  
"No problem." Octavia waved it out. "Which stooge do you want?"  
Clarke shrugged. She didn't know the boys well enough to decide.  
"Okay. I'll grab Murphy, then, and be right back." Octavia offered the woman a small smile before standing and heading for the door.  
Octavia closed the door behind her and turned to the group of boys gathered outside the cabin. "All right. I need Murphy in there. The rest of you.." she scoffed. "go to bed."  
Monty protested. "Is she gonna be okay?"  
Miller didn't look too happy to go, either. He adjusted his beanie indignantly and crossed his arms over his chest. "She's still in bad shape, Octavia."  
Bellamy thought it was sweet how all the boys were so protective of their guest - it would make them good fathers if a girl ever gave any of them the time of day.  
Octavia waved all their protests aside. "She'll be fine, and Murphy and I should be able to get her out of the woods... metaphorically speaking. Most of what's wrong with her is probably just exhaustion."  
Murphy looked totally blindsided at the faith Octavia was putting in him, but he took it anyway. "Guys, I'll see what I can do for her. Chill out and go to sleep. One of you will probably have to stay with her tomorrow and I don't want you falling asleep on the job."  
Bellamy was proud of Murphy - of all his boys - for rising to the challenge of caring for Clarke and was about to say so when Octavia muttered something about a load of saps and drug Murphy back inside.  
Clarke's fingers worried over the wound on her side, trying to remember how she got it. She could see a sword of some kind, cool steel gleaming in the faint light. Someone was swinging it slowly with elegance and grace- a ceremonial practice of some kind. But how had it come inside her?  
Her ring finger brushed aside some of the open flesh and she whimpered, jerking back. She sighed and shook her head, running her other hand through as much of her tangled hair as she could.

Octavia's dark figure reappeared along with a gust of cool air and a young man. "Hello, Clarke." Octavia greeted her, waving Murphy in ahead of her.  
"How're you feeling?" Murphy asked Clarke, kneeling beside her.  
"Hi..." Clarke had trouble remembering the boy's name. "Murphy?"  
Murphy nodded. "Hey. The little guy calm down?"  
"Yeah." Clarke replied quietly.  
"How're you feeling?" Murphy asked again, now that she had figured out who he was.  
"A bit dizzy still, but not as bad. Just tired."  
"That's good news, Clarke. Octavia, could you go get me the med kit?"

Octavia questioned who this take-charge boy was and what he had done with the Murphy who would have just made her do everything. But she wasn't complaining. She liked that he cared about someone for once. She grabbed the kit from the shelf and returned to him, keeping careful watch over Clarke. "Here."  
Murphy opened the kit and pulled out a cloth patch and a bottle of Monty's moonshine (the only disinfectant they had) and studiously cleaned the incision.  
Clarke gripped the blanket beside her with as much strength as she had to distract herself from the burning the antiseptic caused in her side. She didn't want either of the teens to know they were hurting her.  
Murphy looked up at her apologetically when he was finished, seeing through her best efforts to hide her pain, and held a gauze patch to the wound to control the bleeding. "The good news is I don't think you'll need stitches again, but it'll take a long time for you to heal."  
Octavia questioned Murphy's decision. "Wouldn't it be better to do stitches, just to be safe?"  
"No." Clarke opined. "Putting a needle there would put strain on the skin surrounding it as the baby grows, and they'd probably just break the next time the baby kicked, anyway."

Murphy was impressed. "Actually, yeah. Clarke's right."  
Octavia nodded. "Okay."  
Clarke was thankful she still knew what she was doing. There were times when she questioned her own competency.  
"Alright, Clarke. I'm going to bind this pretty tightly, but the compression bandage should move when the baby does." Murphy met her eyes and tried to be reassuring.  
Clarke nodded and relaxed her hold on the poor blanket she had been wringing the life out of for the past ten minutes. "Thanks. I really appreciate it."  
"Of course." Octavia chimed in. "We're happy to help."  
Murphy agreed as he pulled Clarke's borrowed shirt down over her abdomen and carefully checked the bandage again. "I want you to get some sleep now, okay?"  
"Okay." Clarke agreed. She knew she wouldn't get any rest, though. She never did, and being alone in a strange cabin with a bandage on her side and a baby she wasn't sure she could deliver didn't help.  
"I'll stay with you, if you want." Octavia offered, beating Murphy to the punch. He supposed it would be weird for him to offer, though, because he was a man and, as comfortable as Clarke seemed around them, the primary threat to her was something only a woman was remotely qualified to handle.  
Clarke hesitated. She felt she was already an inconvenience enough, but it didn't sound too bad to have a little protective company.  
In the time Clarke was thinking, Octavia decided for her. "You know what? I will stay. Thanks for the help, Murphy." she dismissed her brother's second.  
Murphy was used to her bossing him around. "Okay. You gonna be okay, Clarke?"  
Clarke nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Thanks."  
"Good night, Clarke."  
"Night, Murphy."

Octavia pulled a pillow from the shelf and made herself a nest on the floor beside Clarke. Clarke was already asleep. Octavia lay awake and watched her for a while, worried for her and wondering about her past. Where was the father? Who was the father? Why was Clarke wandering around the woods all alone?  
Those were all questions she was determined to ask, but she wasn't sure when the time would present itself. She needed to do what was best for Clarke first and foremost, and that probably wasn't making her talk about whatever caused her to come to them. She also realized, looking around the med-cabin, that a militia's camp was certainly not the best or safest place to have a baby.


	2. Save Her, Bell!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia tries to watch out for Clarke but needs Bellamy to save her. Clarke dies for a minute and the Blakes are worried little beans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just short little filler stuff. This shouldn't happen again.

Clarke stirred and moaned softly, waking Octavia from her light sleep, still with thoughts of Clarke's past in her mind. The fair-haired girl coughed wetly, turning her head to the side.  
Octavia sat up and took Clarke's pale face between her hands, watching for any signs of trouble. She bent her head and pressed her ear to her bony chest, hearing a bit of rasping and fluid, but nothing that seemed too serious. That is, until there was blood.  
Clarke began to cough in her sleep, shifting restlessly as though she was dreaming. Blood spattered the pillow and blanket near her head, some sticking in Clarke's throat. Octavia's first instinct was to roll her onto her side so she wouldn't choke but the baby made that impossible for her to do alone. Her only other option was to try to sit Clarke up, which would be uncomfortable to say the least.

Octavia's decision was made the moment Clarke stopped breathing. She slid her hands beneath the woman's back and lifted her upright, holding her there until she could gather pillows to support her back. When Clarke was propped up, Octavia knelt in front of her to force the blood up before both Clarke and the baby died. "Come on." She hissed, pressing gently on Clarke's abdomen. Clarke convulsed with a sickening gag, but no blood or air passed through her throat. Holding back her panic, Octavia tried again with more force. She felt the baby kick - relieved to know they were alive- but Clarke only folded over from the blow. Her time was up. Clarke's heart stopped.

Octavia stood away from her and opened the cabin door, releasing her cry into the night. "Bellamy!"  
Bellamy had been skulking at the wall ever since Octavia had taken Murphy inside to tend to Clarke, their mysterious new guest. He had a feeling he shouldn't go too far or get too comfortable- the militia wasn't good with new people. When he heard Octavia's voice on the autumn wind, he dropped his gun and went running. "What's wrong?"  
"Clarke. She- she stopped breathing." Octavia tried to control her panic. "Choked. We need to get the baby out. Now."  
Bellamy didn't understand how Octavia could have let that happen. She was usually so careful. But he followed her inside and lowered Clarke flat onto her back again, surprised his sister hadn't thought to do CPR before panicking. Octavia hovered anxiously, hoping her brother could save her - she hadn't meant to let it get so far. It didn't sound like blood in Clarke's lungs when she listened.

Clarke woke with a start, blood spilling from her lips. She gasped for breath, her head spinning. Bellamy looked down at her with raw relief on his hard face, Octavia's much the same. "We thought we'd lost you." She murmured, a hand on her brother's shoulder.  
Clarke shook her head, still too out of breath to speak.  
"You're gonna be okay, Clarke." Bellamy assured her, hoping it was true.  
"I'm...fine." she gasped, running her hands over her stomach again to find that her baby was alright.  
Bellamy's hand covered hers and he met her eyes, willing his own to speak of confidence and protector's instinct; that he would never let anything happen to this little family on the bed. "O and I will stay tonight, just in case. This won't happen again." He promised.  
Clarke nodded. It felt strange to have his eyes on her and stranger still to have his scarred hand on her stomach. But she liked it, and it made her feel like there was the slightest possibility that someone else cared.

Bellamy and Octavia took turns watching over their package of a guest, but the night passed uneventfully. Little droplets of blood would coat Clarke's lips from time to time, but then the Blake on duty would check her lungs and turn her head back to the side just to be safe. The morning came quickly but all three were exhausted.


	3. Morning One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's sunrise and Clarke waked up before the Blakes. Murphy tries to be the good guy, Bellamy and Clarke bond, and we learn something very sad and interesting about Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh! I got three wonderful reviews already! Thank you three so much! And thank you all for your kudos!
> 
> ElspethGordie: I'm so glad you like it! I don't usually just start AUs with no plan, but I did this time. As far as the worldbuilding goes, it's not really like the Hunger Games, as I haven't read the books or seen the movies. It's more like an alternate universe in its purest form: nothing that fits with the current time/space continuum. Polis and its Commander are falling apart and the Nations are warring with each other. To protect themselves, many societies form militias. 
> 
> Mirabel_Larke: Thanks! I hope you like the rest of it!
> 
> Bellarke_Stories: As I said above, they are in a different time/space continuum. I completely understand why it would be confusing. Thanks for making me really think about it!
> 
> Feel free to ask me questions! I'm trying to figure out how to reply to you more immediately before posting the next chapter, but I should be able to post weekly or bi-monthly for a while, so I can get back to you then.  
> Enjoy this chapter!

Clarke woke first, the sun's early rays spilling across the floor and Octavia's sleeping silhouette. She sighed, seeing Bellamy asleep sitting up, propped against a nearby bed, and sat up herself. The baby was still asleep, she was sure, because they didn't kick when she moved, but she was still afraid to stand. Taking a deep breath, she conquered her fear and hauled herself to her feet. The rough floor was cold beneath her bare feet and she only just began to feel how sore they were from her travels. Although she was still weak, her vision remained mostly clear and her stomach settled as she padded past the Blakes to the open med kit on the long table along the back wall.  
She took the bottle of clear liquid Murphy had used to sterilize her abdomen and two cloth squares and sat on the stool beside the table to clean out the lacerations on the soles of her dirty feet. She knew that they would just become dirty again the minute she stepped outside, but she didn't feel right about taking any of their cloth bandages to protect them. It was difficult and it hurt, but she cleansed the injuries and set the kit back in order when she was through.

Feeling brave, Clarke stood and decided to take a short walk around the encampment, just to have a look around before she left. As much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn't stay. She had to get to the sea before it was too late.  
There were only a few kids milling around the encampment, and none she'd seen on her way in, so she was able to slip around the wall and hide in the shadows and have a good look around. The structures were well-made, but seemed simple and hurried in design. The militia obviously did not have an architect. The dirt was well-worn from trampling boots - it seemed that the militia had been there for a while. She wondered why she hadn't heard of them before.

"Hey." a man's voice came from the shadows behind her.  
She jumped, hands covering her stomach protectively.  
The boy named Murphy emerged with an apologetic expression. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. What're you doing up?"  
Clarke relaxed when she realized Murphy was friendly. "I just wanted a look around. The Blakes are asleep."  
Murphy nodded. He wished the siblings hadn't left the girl completely undefended. "You don't have shoes." he noted, seeing her shift uncomfortably on the hard ground.  
Clarke shrugged.  
"Let's go find you some. What size are you?" Murphy was anxious to get the girl back inside and resting where she belonged, but he sympathized with her desire to explore her surroundings.  
"Eight." Clarke replied. She didn't want to be a bother, but she knew not to argue with someone like Murphy.  
He nodded. "Okay. I'm going to walk you back to the cabin, then I'll get you some boots and take you exploring once we clean up your feet. Sound good?"  
Clarke nodded, letting Murphy have control. All his words washed over her and bounced off her mind's protective covering - she was used to her every move being planed for her and carefully monitored.

He took her arm gently and guided her back to the Medical cabin, holding the door for her. Bellamy had fallen over, laying with his head on his sister's legs, and Clarke's bed was still undisturbed. "Why don't you sit down." Murphy led Clarke over to her mattress.  
She sat obediently, holding his arm the whole time.  
"Hey, you okay?" Murphy asked softly.  
Clarke nodded, peeling her fingers from his arm. She struggled to be comfortable.  
Murphy was eager to help. He settled some pillows behind her back and guided her back against them. "Is it okay if I...?" he motioned to her legs, which were crossed tightly and wedged under the bed. Her abdomen was being squished.  
Clarke nodded. "Thanks. I can-" she broke off with a sharp gasp when Murphy's hands closed on her legs. Even though he was friendly, she still tensed.  
"I'm sorry." Murphy apologized, pulling his hands back.  
Clarke shook her head. "It's okay. I'm sorry."  
"No worries." Murphy assured her. "I'm going to try again." This time, Clarke let him move her legs. It was honestly more comfortable, anyway. He stood back and examined her with clear blue eyes. "You gonna be okay here for a little while?" He sounded genuinely concerned.  
Clarke nodded. "Thanks."   
Murphy didn't take long to find boots for Clarke. Harper had been more than willing to donate a pair and some socks when Murphy told her what happened last night. Harper was one of those people who took good care of their clothes, and she never really did literal dirty work where anything would be damaged in the first place. She had asked if he wanted her to come along to take care of Clarke until the Blakes woke up, but he declined politely. He didn't want to frighten Clarke with a new person so early on.

Murphy opened the door to the infirmary slowly and padded in as quietly as he could to preserve the Blakes' sleep. Clarke was sitting exactly where he left her, her blue eyes fixed on her sleeping protectors. She had a strange expression painted on her delicate features, but one he did not elect to comment on at that time. "Hey." He greeted her quietly.  
She looked away from the siblings and offered him a slight smile. "Hi." Her eyes fell on the boots dangling from Murphy's fingers. "Thanks so much."  
Murphy nodded, made awkward by Clarke's genuine gratitude. "Want some help?"  
Clarke seemed surprised by his kind offer. She wasn't sure what to do with him. "Um... sure. Thanks."   
"Of course." Murphy knelt and first carefully cleaned, then worked the socks on over the cuts that marred her pale feet. The soft fabric felt amazing to Clarke when all she had known for the past month was cold, hard ground. She sighed and Murphy looked up with a slight smile. He was happy he could please her. It wasn't that he was demeaning her, but he knew that, emotionally, she would be fairly fragile and it was important to keep her calm and happy. Also, as much as he hated to think it, he was apparently a generally decent person and he was going to try to help her. He slipped Harper's boots on her feet next and laced them carefully. Clarke smiled. "That tight enough?" Murphy had erred on the side of too loose rather than making her uncomfortable with something too tight.  
Clarke nodded. "Thanks, Murphy. They're perfect. Will you please tell whomever lent these 'thanks' for me?"  
"Yeah." Murphy knew Harper would like to know that her gift helped. "Did you want to explore more?"   
Clarke was hoping to do it without an escort, but at least Murphy would leave her alone if she asked. "Okay."  
Murphy sat back and examined her. "Do you want to?"   
Clarke nodded again. "Yeah. That'd be nice."   
"Mind if I walk with you?" Murphy asked, standing to give her a hand up.  
Clarke took his hand and let him gently lift her from the bed. "Not at all." she lied flawlessly.  
Murphy led her to the door and held it open for her. "After you."  
"Bell!" Octavia hissed, bolting awake. "Bellamy."  
Bellamy groaned, heaving his eyes open slowly. "What, O?"  
"She's gone." Octavia had already failed Clarke once, she didn't want to do it again.  
Bellamy took his head off Octavia's leg and scanned the cabin, his heart racing. "Crap!" He bolted to his feet and ran for the door, Octavia hot on his heels. He scanned the immediate area surrounding the cabin, but saw no sign of their charge. Clarke seemed to have disappeared completely... that, or she was wandering the extremely dangerous camp alone without a guide or any shoes. "Go check with the guys and see if one of them's seen her." he ordered Octavia. "I'll start searching camp."  
Octavia hated taking orders, especially from her nerd of a brother, but he was right. "Okay." She ran off to corral the boys who had helped Clarke last night and Bellamy started to comb the camp.

Octavia couldn't find Murphy, but everyone else who had met Clarke since her arrival didn't know where she went. It bothered her that she couldn't find her brother's former arch-nemesis, but she didn't want to give it much thought; she was supposed to believe that Murphy had changed and that he would never hurt someone as fragile as Clarke.

Bellamy had better fortune than his sister. He didn't have to look long before he saw Murphy helping Clarke through the pathways between cabins. He was saying something to her, and she was nodding, but Bellamy didn't like how it looked. "Hey!" he called, jogging up behind them.   
Clarke jumped and Murphy's hand covered hers on his arm.   
"What's going on? You weren't in bed, Clarke." Bellamy tried not to sound too worried and attempted the cool, standoffish protector persona.   
Clarke looked back at him. "I wanted to explore. Murphy got me a pair of boots and asked to join me so I wouldn't get lost or hurt." It was like her blue eyes knew everything. She said the answer to everything Bellamy was thinking.  
"Murphy?" Bellamy wanted to hear it from him, too.  
Murphy looked offended that Bellamy was doubting Clarke's word and his morals. "Yeah. She's right. I found her wandering around and I didn't want her to get hurt, so she waited in the med cabin, where, might I add, you were supposed to be watching her, while I got her some shoes. Happy?"  
Clarke didn't like Murphy's tone, nor did Bellamy. "Hey." she cautioned him, turning her big eyes on his face. "Calm down."  
Bellamy was anxious to get Clarke back in bed, resting. "Come back to bed, Clarke." It wasn't a suggestion, but an order.  
"But-" she was going to protest, her voice small and weak, when she doubled over as much as her stomach would allow, falling back against Murphy.   
"Woah!" Murphy exclaimed, catching Clarke and lowering her to the ground.   
Bellamy knelt beside her instantly. "What's going on, Clarke? Talk to me."  
Clarke was breathing too heavily to reply.  
Murphy's hands probed her abdomen and he felt the baby squirming. "It's the baby. They're moving around a lot." He tried not to sound worried.  
Bellamy's hands were on Clarke immediately. "She's too stressed. Walking her around was a bad idea."  
"She said she was fine!" Murphy argued, his heart racing.   
"How did long did you think that would last?" Bellamy retorted, rubbing Clarke's abdomen gently to try and calm the baby down.   
Clarke whimpered, her shaking hand clamped on Murphy's arm. "Don't.... fight." she bit out, glaring at Bellamy.  
"It's okay, Clarke. Just breathe." Bellamy ignored her mandate, sliding his hands beneath her back. It would be hard to carry her without hurting her, but the med cabin wasn't far, so he figured he could do it quickly and cause her as little pain as possible.  
Clarke faced vertigo when Bellamy lifted her from the ground. She gasped and clutched his jacket tightly, trying to block out her pain.   
"Go find Octavia and have her meet us there." Bellamy ordered Murphy.  
Murphy wanted to argue, but Clarke was more important than his feud with Murphy. "Okay." He ran to find Octavia and Bellamy walked as quickly as he could with Clarke back to the safety of her bed in the med cabin.  
Octavia bolted into the med cabin, Murphy hot on her heels. Bellamy was on his knees beside Clarke's bed rubbing her abdomen carefully. He was talking to her softly, his eyes worried.   
"What happened?" Octavia asked her brother, standing over him and evaluating Clarke.   
"Hey. She was walking around." Bellamy was clearly not going to let that go for a while. "The baby's moving around a lot and making Clarke feel sick."  
Octavia nodded. "Hey, Clarke." she greeted the girl. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. You think you're up for that?"   
Clarke nodded.   
"Okay." Octavia knelt beside her brother, conscious of Murphy hovering. "How did you feel when you woke up?"   
"Fine. A little sore, but-" Clarke gasped when Bellamy's hand covered the swell of her stomach. "but I was okay." she finished softly.  
Octavia nodded. "Good to hear. How were you when you were up and walking around?"  
Clarke's eyes flitted to Murphy's worried face, then to Bellamy's anxious brown eyes. "I got tired after a while, but Murphy had me stop to rest a lot, so I didn't feel like anything was wrong until the baby woke up."   
Octavia wondered if that was the truth. It was obvious that Clarke wanted to keep the peace.   
"Is that true, Clarke?" Bellamy asked, studying her pale face. He sensed it, too.  
Octavia stood and touched Bellamy's shoulder before moving away from the cluster to prepare a new bandage for Clarke's wound, having forgotten all about it in the morning's panic.  
Clarke wondered why everyone was second-guessing her all of the sudden and where Octavia was going. "Yes." she murmured once the other girl was gone, her eyes glued to Bellamy's hand, which had not left her abdomen. 

Murphy watched Bellamy like a hawk as the leader caressed Clarke's round stomach, worried that Clarke would be made uncomfortable by so much contact all at once. He knew what it was like to be alone and then have someone touch him when he was not ready. It had made him physically ill - even a brush on the arm sent shivers down his spine. He hoped Clarke had not been that deprived. "Clarke?" he asked gently. Clarke turned her brilliant blue eyes on him. "Are you okay being touched like that?"  
Bellamy froze. He hadn't considered that Clarke might not like his hands on her. She hadn't said anything, but then, she was so complacent that he couldn't know if she even would.   
Clarke inhaled as deeply as she could. "I... I'm getting used to it." she tried to be diplomatic.   
Bellamy removed his hand instantly. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think to ask if you were okay with it. I won't do it again." He backed away, watching Clarke warily.  
Clarke hated to upset Bellamy - or any of the kids who were taking care of her. She was enough trouble already. "No. It's okay, Bellamy. It's my fault."   
Murphy knelt near Clarke's feet and met her eyes from a distance. "Clarke, I know this is a hard question to answer, but when was the last time someone touched you... in a good way?"   
Clarke couldn't meet either boy's eyes. "I don't know."  
Bellamy's eyes widened. "When was the last time you were touched, Clarke?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.  
Clarke's hand drifted to her healing side. "A few months ago." she murmured.   
Murphy sat forward. "I'm sorry we shocked you, Clarke. We're going to back off from now on, okay? Just 'till you get used to it again."  
Clarke wanted to reach out and grab Bellamy's hand and hold it on her skin forever. As sick and restless as it made her feel, the way he so effortlessly relaxed her aching muscles was well worth it. She didn't want Murphy to take that away. She knew why he did, but there was no way she could explain how she was willing to sacrifice for his touch. "I.." she began to try, her words failing her and leaving her to mutely shake her head, her eyes revealing her desperation.   
Bellamy moved closer to the bed near her pillow and studied her worriedly. It was clear he was trying to repress the habit of providing a comforting touch. "Hey. What's wrong, Clarke?" he asked gently.  
Clarke let his protective concern wrap around her like a warm blanket, soothing her rattled mind. "I liked it." she whispered, her eyes fearful.  
Bellamy looked surprised. "You did?"   
Clarke nodded, tears filling her eyes. She couldn't explain why, or how Bellamy could have this effect on her, but she couldn't stop it.  
"Clarke...?" Murphy was very worried about the young woman. "What's wrong?"

Clarke covered her face with her hands and tried to stop their shaking. Bellamy gently encircled her thin wrists with his rough hands and Murphy grabbed his shoulder. "Back off." he ordered.  
Clarke tensed. "Don't!" Her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. "Please..."  
Murphy watched Clarke carefully. "Do you like it when Bellamy touches you, Clarke?"  
Clarke nodded.  
Octavia rejoined them and wondered what was going on. "Hey, Clarke. You okay?" she asked carefully. Clarke was proving to be more unstable than she thought.  
Clarke made a strangled whimpering noise. She wanted Bellamy's touch so badly. It hurt her to be without it. Bellamy removed one of his hands from her wrist and she whimpered. She didn't stop until that hand was resting on her stomach.  
Octavia watched in fascination. It was almost like a ritual how Bellamy responded to Clarke's every sound with a touch. He was clearly not confident in what he was doing and Murphy was tense, waiting for Clarke to be overloaded, but Clarke drank in every touch, immediately thirsty for more.   
"Be careful, Bell." Octavia warned quietly, not wanting to disrupt their strange silence.   
Bellamy nodded absently, carefully rubbing the skin around the injury to Clarke's side.   
Murphy watched anxiously as Bellamy touched Clarke with reverence, reminded of when he had the privilege of performing the same ritual with his own companion. 

Clarke began to shift and squirm under Bellamy's hands after a while, and Octavia recognized her distress before the boys and stopped Bellamy. "She's getting overwhelmed."   
Bellamy slowly retracted his hands from her stomach and watched as she did, in fact, stop squirming. "Sorry, Clarke." he apologized, immediately worried about the young woman.   
Murphy watched her. "Just take a deep breath. It'll be over soon."   
The Blakes had no idea what Murphy was talking about, but Clarke nodded slightly. "I'm okay." she whispered after a moment of silence.  
"I didn't mean to upset you, Clarke." Bellamy told her, worry in his tone.  
Clarke fixed her tired eyes on him. "You didn't, Bellamy. I'd have let you keep going, but the consequences would not have been good. Murphy was right to stop us."  
"It's okay, Clarke." Murphy reminded her gently. "We just want to help you."  
Octavia uncrossed her arms, holding the bandages she had gathered for Clarke to see. "I'm going to have the boys step out and change your bandage, okay?"  
Clarke nodded.  
"Boys, go get Clarke something to eat." Octavia wanted to give them a purpose so they maybe wouldn't fight as much.   
The boys stood and Murphy casually murmured in Octavia's ear "Take off her boots, too. She'll need her feet wrapped."  
Octavia nodded.   
"Come on, Murphy." Bellamy called from the door. Murphy nodded and followed the militia leader from the cabin with one last look at Clarke.


	4. Breakfast... maybe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy is a worried protector and Clarke is put on bedrest. Thank goodness for adults, because the kids aren't getting anything done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! So sorry it's been so long since I updated! The holidays killed me and then I fled the country. (just kidding. I actually just went out of town for a few days. It felt like another country, though. :) )
> 
> Anywho, I got a lovely review from Rhiann101 a while back and plenty of kudos. You guys are the BEST!  
> Rhiann101: you are so sweet! I'm glad I can help in the search for decent fics. I have the worst time trying to find anything good, either. (It probably doesn't help that I ship people no one else seems to...). Anyway, I'll try to have more for you soon!
> 
> As it stands, I discovered that I'm a moron and forgot that this fic is supposed to be part of a series. I'll be creating that link soon to a story that takes place before that. Please hang in there while I get my head on straight, and know that this will most likely be part of a 4-fic series that I'm just writing out of order because the idea came to me for this one at 12:08 AM last spring.

Octavia knelt where her brother had been and met Clarke's eyes. "You doing okay?" she asked carefully.  
Clarke nodded.  
"The boys didn't scare you too much?"   
"No." Clarke was eager to recover from her outburst at Bellamy's touch.  
Octavia nodded. "Good." She unraveled the cloth bandage and lifted Clarke's shirt. "I know it's cold. I'll be done soon." she assured the delicate woman.   
"Thanks." Clarke breathed. Octavia's hands felt so different on her than her brother's.   
Octavia nodded, carefully unwinding the bloody bandage from Clarke's side and using a clean streatch of gauze to clear away the congealed blood before re-dressing the wound. Clarke hadn't realized she was bleeding so much.

When Octavia was though and had lowered Clarke's shirt, she sat back on her heels and evaluated the girl. "Do you feel up to some breakfast?"  
Clarke sighed. "It's okay. Thank you."   
Octavia cocked her head, eyeing her. "Clarke, it wasn't really a question."   
Clarke's eyes widened. "Um..." She wasn't sure what to say. Octavia didn't seem like the type for power plays.  
"Come on. I'm not going to let you starve the little guy." Octavia's eyes softened. "Just a little bit, okay? That's all I'm asking."   
Clarke nodded. "O-okay."   
Octavia touched her shoulder. "Thank you. I'll send Bell in with something light. Just take it easy and try to lay on your side."  
"Thanks." Clarke heaved herself onto her uninjured side, facing the wall, and waited.  
~~  
Bellamy brought Clarke some berries and a small strip of meat, knocking on the door frame to announce his arrival so he didn't scare her. "Hey." he murmured, crouching beside the bed.  
Clarke lay curled on her side, cradling her swollen abdomen protectively, her beautiful eyes closed. "Hi." she replied.  
"You okay?" Bellamy asked carefully.  
Clarke nodded. "Fine."  
"Octavia sent some breakfast with me. You think you could give it a shot?" Bellamy spoke like she was a wounded animal.   
Clarke nodded. Octavia had made it clear she didn't have a choice in the matter. "Thanks."   
Bellamy propped some pillows up behind Clarke when she sat up, shifting to try and get comfortable. "Ready?" Bellamy asked, readjusting her shirt so the neck wasn't strangling her. Clarke nodded and he handed her the metal plate. 

The scent of the meat was enough to nauseate Clarke, but she forced her shaking fingers to capture a berry nonetheless. She was aware of Bellamy's watchful eye on her, but she ignored it until she felt like she could not force herself to eat anything else. She had only eaten half the berries Octavia had sent with her brother and hadn't even touched the meat.  
Bellamy rose on his knees and frowned slightly at the plate. "Clarke, can you try some of the meat. I promise it's good."   
Clarke sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't feel well."  
Bellamy nodded. "I understand." His scarred hands rested on her stomach again. "But you're supporting two right now and the little one needs you to take care of them."   
Clarke nodded, looking down at his hand. "I'll try. I know I have to take care of them, but I feel sick when I eat." Her eyes were wide in her pale face and her whispered words were laced with fear.   
Bellamy was anxious to absolve her of her fear. "Is there something I can do to help you relax?"   
Clarke shrugged her delicate shoulders. "I haven't found anything that helps." she admitted softly.  
"How about I just try a few things and you let me know if any of them help, okay?" Bellamy offered.  
Clarke nodded mutely, trying to brace herself for whatever Bellamy was about to do.

Bellamy inhaled deeply and slowly stroked the edges of Clarke's swollen abdomen. Clarke moaned involuntarily and Bellamy froze, uncertain. "You can keep going." Clarke murmured. Bellamy's hands felt like heaven. Bellamy nodded and resumed tracing the rounded planes of her abdomen, mindful of the bruises and bound slash wound that plagued her skin.   
"Do you think you could try eating the meat now?" Bellamy asked softly after a moment.   
Clarke nodded, praying Bellamy would continue even after she tried. She carefully tore off a tiny portion of roasted meat and pushed it past her lips. Her stomach tensed in anticipation, but Bellamy seemed to feel that, so his careful hands covered her churning stomach, parting around her chest for the sake of modesty, and his clear eyes met hers. "You can do it, Clarke." he promised.  
His words gave her the courage she needed to slowly chew the savory bit and force it down her throat. Bellamy watched her carefully, smiling when he saw her swallow the meat. He quickly began to trace her abdomen again to calm her and waited anxiously for her response to the meat.

Clarke's stomach turned the moment the meat slid down her esophagus. "Bellamy..." she gasped, gagging before she could stop herself. She felt like she was going to be sick.  
Bellamy rose on his knees and covered her stomach again, massaging the taxed muscles gently. He could feel them straining under his fingers. "Clarke, can you take a deep breath for me, please?" he asked calmly. He knew she was scared, so he forced himself to be the obvious voice of reason and reassurance.  
Clarke tried and gagged again, feeling bile crawl up her throat. "Bellamy," she gasped, "I'm scared."   
"What's going on, Clarke?" Bellamy asked calmly.  
"I think I'm gonna be sick." she whimpered.   
"Oh, Clarke." Bellamy sighed empathetically. "I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"  
Clarke nodded, tasting bile in her mouth. She whimpered and reached for Bellamy's hand for reassurance.  
"It's gonna be okay, Clarke." Bellamy murmured, giving the frightened girl his hand. "This'll pass in a minute."  
Clarke coughed again and bile ran down her chin. Bellamy reached up and took her face between his hands and made her look at him, trying to control her panic. "Clarke? I know this is scary. I'd like you to focus on my voice and try to take slow, deep breaths. Can you do that?"  
Clarke nodded, her heart racing. Bellamy replaced his hands on her stomach and measured her breaths as he massaged her tense muscles. She gagged once, but no bile escaped her lips. Once her stomach had calmed down, Bellamy sat back and inspected Clarke.

"You okay?" he asked gently.  
Clarke lied and nodded. She raised a shaking hand and wiped the sticky bile from her face.   
Bellamy watched her and was dismayed to see that she was truly still scared. "Clarke, are you sure you're okay?"   
Clarke bit her lip and shook her head.  
Bellamy rose on his knees and folded his arms around her, holding her reassuringly against his chest. "Just breathe. You're okay now." he murmured.   
Clarke nodded, grabbing a fistful of Bellamy's shirt over his shoulder. "Thank you." she whispered.  
Bellamy nodded. "Of course. O told me that your feet need to get wrapped. Are you okay with doing that now?"   
Clarke released his shirt and nodded again. She hated that he spoke to her like she was fragile, but at the same time, it triggered something in her that made her feel safe.

Bellamy released her and settled her back against the pillow, taking the plate and setting it on the floor. "I'm gonna take your boots off now, okay?" He waited for Clarke's nod before unlacing the sturdy leather boots. Clarke shuddered as his fingers brushed her ankle, but he didn't notice. His gentle hands worked off her borrowed socks, laying them out carefully on the foot of the bed, and examining her abused feet. "You walked a long way, huh?" he asked idly, his tone sympathetic.  
"I suppose." Clarke replied. She honestly didn't know how far she had gone. There were days it felt like she had been going in circles (which wasn't unlikely).  
"I'm gonna go get the first-aid kit. It's just on the table." Bellamy nodded toward the long table across the room. He wanted Clarke to know he wasn't leaving her.  
"Okay." she murmured, watching him go.  
He returned in a minute with the kit, kneeling near her feet and taking her left foot carefully in his hand. "Murphy should've cleaned these out before he put the socks on." he muttered, dabbing at the dirt caked to the sole carefully with a damp cloth.   
Clarke winced when the alcohol reached her bare skin, but didn't let Bellamy see. He was so careful and gentle and she just wanted a moment alone with the feeling of someone caring about her.  
"I'm going to bandage these, just to be safe." he informed her gently, beginning to wind soft cloth around her foot.   
"Oh, no. It's okay. I don't-"   
"Clarke." Bellamy cut her off, raising his eyes to meet hers. "I'm doing this for you. End of story."  
Clarke blinked. She wasn't used to Bellamy's direct opposition. "Okay." she whispered. "Sorry."  
"It's okay, Clarke." he was quick to reassure her. "I'm not angry. I just want you to understand that it's what's best for you."  
"I know." Clarke caved, looking down. "Thanks."   
"It's my pleasure." Bellamy finished wrapping her left foot and began on the right, tsking like an old woman when he found the hole a small rock left in her arch. "Let's keep you off your feet for awhile until these heal, yeah?"   
Clarke nodded. "Okay." It wasn't like she had the energy to be walking around anyway.  
Bellamy rubbed her ankle absently while he cleaned her skin, his light callouses soothing to her. 

Clarke was asleep when Bellamy finished wrapping her feet. He had been hoping she would be. "Come here." He murmured to her, lifting her slightly from the bed so he could clear away the pillows he had propped her with earlier. She sighed in her sleep, cuddling against his chest with a small contented smile that melted Bellamy's heart. He smiled and rested her back on the bed, turning her on her side so she could breathe easier. Her eyebrows knit together when the baby shifted within her but relaxed a moment later as she was pulled deeper into sleep.  
Bellamy felt strangely protective of her as he pulled a blanket over her and tucked it around her small body. He wanted to see her smile like that again, and maybe he could even be the cause of it....


	5. Day and Night (and a new medicine)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke's first afternoon and second evening in the Militia's camp. Bellamy does something unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome. Could this be the beginning of Clarke's cure? Let's hope so, because I don't think Bellamy will be willing to stop what he's doing anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! This is a short chapter, but there's another one for today that I think you might like. I got some wonderful reviews on last chapter (again) and I can't thank you enough:  
> Bellarke_Stories - here's that next chapter you wanted! Hope it stands up to what you were looking forward to!
> 
> Loveloverelove - I don't want to kill you with this thing! haha. But I'm very glad that you like it. I'm total trash and have way   
> to many AUs going on for these babies. I'm honored to be one of the authors you read again and again!
> 
> Rhiann101 - so lovely to hear from you again! Well, this is God's answer to your prayers, and I hope it's what you were looking for. Some more info on all the characters is coming soon, but I have to figure them out first. At least you have another chapter to re-read :)

Clarke slept for most of the day, making up for her restless sleep the past night. Monty and Octavia took turns watching over her, secretly hypothesizing what had happened to her.  
Octavia's theory was that she had been with another nation, then ran when the war hit. It looked like she had been running for a while.   
Monty thought that a militia had done that to her and she bailed on them and went to a nearby city for protection. What he couldn't figure out, though, is who she had been protected by and why she left them.

Clarke was a good patient that day, though she barely ate. Monty had better luck getting her to at least look at food, but Octavia always tried her best to emulate her brother's tone and words to relax Clarke.   
"I don't want to be difficult." Clarke told Monty when he tried to coax her to eat some lunch.  
"I know. Don't worry about it." Monty assured her. She was too tense, and he wanted to help her relax.

She didn't really relax until Bellamy came to check on her that night when his work was done. "Hey, Clarke." he greeted her softly.   
She smiled up at him. "Hello." She was still terribly awkward around the militia kids, but she made an effort to remember her manners.  
Bellamy took a seat on the floor beside her bed, watching her. "Did you rest today?"  
Clarke nodded. "You don't have to confine anyone in here just to watch me, Bellamy. I'll be fine. I promise."  
"I don't want to take any chances, Clarke. The kids don't mind. Besides, having you here is a good lesson for them. It seems lots of them have forgotten their manners." Bellamy sounded so much like a big brother. It made Clarke smile.  
"That's okay. I've forgotten a lot of my social skills, too." Clarke confessed.   
"That's okay." Bellamy touched her hand instinctively and she jumped. "Sorry."   
Clarke shook her head. "Sorry. I forgot how nice that was."  
Bellamy looked up, curious. "Oh. Do you want me to..." he trailed off, running his fingers over her wrist.   
She hoped he was alluding to what he had done for her that morning. "If...if you want."

Bellamy rose to his knees and reached out to touch her pale cheek gently, smiling nervously when she sighed. Her eyes smiled into his and he knew he was doing the right thing. He let his callouses drift over her soft skin, feeling some strange subconscious thought prick at his nervous system. He knew what he wanted to do and he wasn't sure he could stop himself. He hoped he wouldn't go too far.  
Clarke whimpered in pleasure when his hands ran through her hair, following it down to her neck. "Bellamy..." she gasped, running her hands through his unruly hair tugging gently at his curls.  
Bellamy bent his head as he ran his hands slowly over her neck, her chest, and down to where the baby grew. Clarke moaned when Bellamy caressed her abdomen, her lips parting and eyes falling closed. "Bell..."  
Bellamy's dark eyes closed as well, all his focus on Clarke's thin hands in his hair and his hands on her body. "I'm here." he murmured, low and strangled. His heart pounded in his chest, his mind urging his hands to go faster, but he restrained himself. Clarke needed this - needed him - exactly the way it was. He couldn't explain what was happing to either of them, but he'd hate himself for stopping now.  
Clarke's hands carded through his hair, pulling and pushing every time his hands moved. All caution was thrown to the wind now, and Bellamy touched her like he never would anywhere but in the darkness of her bed. She whimpered in pleasure when Bellamy's hands rested near her hips, cradling her swollen stomach in the palms of his hands, his fingers brushing over the hem of her shirt. "Oh..." she sighed. "Bellamy."  
Bellamy lived for her approval. Every word, every movement, felt like everything he needed. "Clarke." His voice was strained and desperate. He hated to take his hands from where they garnered such a reaction, but he had more to do, and he could always return if she so asked.

His hands stroked each of her legs gently, tracing over the healing bruises and scabbed cuts until he reached her bare ankles. She was forced to release his hair, but her hands were lying still in wait for his return. Her feet were bound and healing, so Bellamy did not touch them, but instead returned to her hips and let her hands recapture his dark curls. His thumbs found the valleys and rises of her hipbones, his palms pressed flat against her sides. She shivered and moaned, sighing in pleasure when he shifted to hold the swell of her stomach in his hands again. There, he thought, this is what she loves most.  
Clarke covered his hands with her own trembling ones and opened her eyes slowly. "Bellamy..."  
Bellamy lifted his head. "Clarke."  
"Thank you." she smiled. She had been unsettled for most of the day when she was awake, but her pale features finally looked calm.  
Bellamy kept his hands where they were and rose so she could see him better. "It is my pleasure, Clarke." he told her honestly. "Should I continue?"  
As much as Clarke wished she could, in good conscience, beg the leader to continue, the sun had long since set and Bellamy was tired. "No, my leader. It's time for you to sleep." She spoke softly, not yet fully broken of the waking sleep Bellamy's touch induced.  
Bellamy rested his head low on her chest, his curls spilling onto the rise of the baby's home within her. She reached down and stroked his hair back from his forehead. "Bellamy," she admonished gently, "shouldn't you go to your own bed and lie down?"  
Bellamy reached up and touched her face. "I want to stay with you." he murmured. He didn't register his words until they had already been spoken and he wondered if he was going too far. After all, they had just met.  
Clarke wondered briefly whether his devotion was purely at her command, or if she was doing him a service as well. "Then come lie with me so you are comfortable." For some reason, she trusted him, and almost craved his warmth beside her. It had been so long since someone was in her bed for an innocent reason.  
Bellamy lifted his head. "I'll confine you." he worried. "The bed's small." He needed to offer some kind of excuse, even if he didn't believe them. He had to give her an out before he crossed the line. He never wanted to take advantage of the strange power he had with her.   
Clarke smiled. "Not that small. Come on, Bell." She rolled onto her side, leaving him no choice but to give up his head's cushion on her chest and either leave or lie behind her.  
"Fine." he muttered, smiling good-naturedly, and climbed in behind her. She settled against his chest and smiled as he buried his face in her hair, a hand reaching over her to rest on her stomach. His breathing deepened and she allowed herself to find sleep as well.


	6. Off into the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has absolutely nothing to to with Clarke and Bellamy. Murphy has his own life away from the two lovebirds, and, while Bellamy is worshiping Clarke, Murphy sneaks off to worship his own love (though he's actually dating his person). Short and sweet, but they certainly have fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, because the last chapter was so short, I decided to do this for you all just because. I hope you ship Murphy and Emori, because they're going to get their own little backstory in this arc, just like the Militia and Clarke do. Lots of kisses and awkwardness (because Murphy is trash and can't flirt). Here we go!

With Bellamy distracted with the new arrival and Miller taking his place in charge of the camp, it was so much easier for Murphy to sneak out undetected. He didn't miss the hedging as he slung a rifle over his shoulder and climbed the fence. He missed her, but Bellamy and the rest of the team had needed him in camp for the past three nights.  
The woods were dark and strangely quiet as he walked the thin path that led to her hiding place. He had stashed her in a small bunker safely under the cover of the trees, with a door set into a small hillside. He tried to make her comfortable, but he still wondered if she would stay put. He hoped so... he also hoped that she was well.  
~~  
Emori wanted to stay awake for John. She wanted to see him tonight, but she didn't know if he'd come. When she'd last heard from him, he had said that things were getting tense in the militia's camp. He promised to be back as soon as he could and she was constantly listening for gunshots, just in case. She knew that John had to do what was best for his militia and it would look suspicious if he disappeared and they would come looking for him and find her and it scared her to think of what they would do to him if they found out she was hiding in the woods. She couldn't promise they would understand.   
As it was, her nerves were already fried. She was hours away from disappearing again. She didn't want to do it alone. She just had to hold on until John came. He would make it better - he always did. So she sat on the bed (the bed always reminded her of him. He was the first person to give her one) and waited.... for the third night in a row.   
She jumped when the door opened, good hand flying to her knife.  
~~  
"Mori?" John's familiar voice called.  
"John!" Emori jumped from the bed and flew into his arm, well aware of the gun strapped to his back and the knife in her hand. It was funny and ironic that that's what they were: weapons and kisses and long nights curled up on her bed.   
"I missed you. I'm sorry it's been so long. " John apologized, pulling her away to kiss her gently.  
She smiled against his lips. "I've missed you, too. How are things at camp?"  
"They're fine now. We got the spies out of our space." John shrugged, kissing her again. He couldn't not when he was with her. He missed her from the moment he walked out of the bunker door in the morning to the time he got to walk back in.  
"Good." Emori wasn't going to let him stop kissing her for a long time. She missed being with him and, more than that, she missed being close to someone. Living in the bunker all alone was hard - worse than the Dead Zone sometimes - but she was thankful just to be close to John. He was the only one who loved her.  
John had to force himself to stop kissing her to ask her a question. "Are you okay?" He ran his calloused hands over her face, down her neck, stopping at her thin shoulders.   
She rested her forehead on his shoulder, sad for the absence of his hands on her skin. She loved it when he touched her, especially now that it had stopped burning. "For now." she told him. "It's gonna get bad soon, though. I'm worried."  
He pulled her to his chest and stroked her braided hair, fingering the little medallions she had woven into the long strands. "I'll be here. I promise. You've got nothing to worry about."  
She nodded. "Okay. Thanks, John."  
"Have you eaten?" John asked. He never knew with her.  
"Yes, John. I ate." she sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically.   
"Thank you." John kissed her again before pulling away. "Bed?"  
Emori nodded. She set her knife on the table by the bed and waited expectantly.  
John shrugged off his gun, setting it by the bed, his jacket next. Emori watched him with a slightly predatory expression, wondering if his thin shirt would follow. A (very large) part of her hoped so, but she would be content to see the lean muscles of his arms outlined when he unlaced his boots, toeing them off before joining her on the bed.

"You watched." he pointed out flatly. Her attention made him slightly uncomfortable, but he also liked pleasing her.  
"And?" she challenged, a playful smile pulling at her lips. "What'cha gonna do about it?"  
John matched her smile and pulled her back onto the mattress with him, cuddling close and sliding a hand casually under her shirt. "How's this?" he teased.  
She squirmed so his long fingers were brushing her scarred ribcage. "Very nice, John. Is this an invitation?"  
John kissed her nice and slowly and deeply. "Yes."  
Emori took the invitation and ran with it. She slid both her hands - the whole one and the claw - beneath his shirt and played with his scars, feeling his muscles tense and him shiver. His hands were equally brave as his left joined his right at her ribs, tracing her bones and lean muscles. She was thin, but he was pleased to see that she was getting healthier. And, fortunately for both of them, that meant she had more energy for .... those things.

They had their fun together for a long time, each re-mapping the skin they knew so well and checking for new scars. Neither would admit the second intention, however. They preferred to just lose themselves in each other without sex... for now, and play at the places they knew the other loved until they fell asleep. Emori fell asleep first, her hands splayed across the torture scars on his ribcage, and John followed suit, his hands covering the whip scars on her back.


	7. Questions and Waterfalls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy confesses something to Clarke and asks Bellamy a hard question. Meanwhile, Octavia and Harper help Clarke clean up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo!  
> I'm so sorry that it's been almost TWO MONTHS since I updated last! I know I left you at a really weird part, but I promise that this will tie everything in.  
> Thank you to all who left kudos here and to Rihann101 (again) for reviewing. I hope you all like this one better than the last!

Bellamy was gone before Clarke woke up, but Clarke was certainly not alone. Miller was sitting on the floor cleaning his gun and trying not to look like he was watching her sleep. "Morning, Miller." she greeted him, smiling slightly.  
Miller jumped and readjusted his beanie. "Hey. Sleep okay?"  
Clarke nodded. "What're you doing in here?"  
Miller slid the barrel of his gun back into place and set it aside. "Bellamy wanted me to stay with you until you woke up, just in case."  
Clarke tried not to roll her eyes. "Oh. Thanks."  
Miller nodded. "It makes him feel better to have someone looking out for you."  
Clarke shook her head and sighed. Bellamy worried too much.

There was a knock on the doorframe and Miller looked up. "Yo." he greeted Murphy, who was leaning against the doorframe.  
"Morning." the pale boy replied. "Clarke, can I talk to you for a minute?"  
Clarke nodded. "Sure."  
Miller stood and put the pieces of his gun in his pockets. Murphy rolled his eyes, trading places with the other boy and clapping him on the shoulder. "Great move." he muttered.  
Clarke laughed softly and Miller shrugged with a grin. "I got this."

Murphy shook his head once Miller was gone, kneeling beside Clarke's bed. "He's the one that needs to be watched." he commented idly. He was stalling. He knew it, but he wasn't good at having the kind of conversation he needed to have with the young woman and it made him nervous. "I was out last night," he began, "and there's some stuff that I realized I forgot to tell you the other day."  
Clarke could tell he was trying, but she was going to take a moment and make it a little hard on him. "Aren't we supposed to stay inside the walls at night?"  
Murphy grinned. "And?"  
Clarke shook her head. "Carry on."  
"How you and Bellamy are - the touching and stuff - I get it. I get how hard it is for you, Clarke, and I thought you should know that it gets easier."  
Clarke appreciated that. Now, Murphy wasn't exactly the poster child for health of any kind, but she would take hope wherever she could find it. "How did you get over it?"  
Murphy shook his head. "Not me. Nah. That's a long way off. My girlfriend. She's okay now." He couldn't help but smile. Just thinking about her big smile when they were finally at a place where they could kiss and her hopeful eyes when she said it didn't hurt, he had to smile. She made him soft.  
"You have a girlfriend?" Clarke was intrigued. She hadn't heard anything about this from the others.  
"Yeah. But you can't say anything." Murphy insisted. He knew he could trust Clarke, though. "She's outside the walls. Not really supposed to even be here."  
"Forbidden love, then." Clarke teased. "How romantic. How did you fix her?" Shouldn't you be telling Bellamy all this? she couldn't help but wonder. I can't help myself all that much at this point.  
The question of the hour. "We kept trying, each night we'd do a little more until she had enough, then we'd stop."  
Clarke didn't find that hopeful. Bellamy had done that with her, but he didn't just do a little. He went over every inch of her scarred skin meticulously until she wanted to die. It was a good feeling, though. "What should I do?"  
Murphy wasn't the advice-giving type, but he had learned with Emori. She was really good for him in a lot of ways. "Keep trying with Bellamy. Tell him to stop when it's too much, but try and push your limits each time. It helps when you have consistency, too. Like, don't try once and take a week-long break. That doesn't really work."  
"Like you and your girl." Clarke observed. He had looked sad when he said it. "How often do you get to see her?"  
Murphy pushed his long fingers though his dark hair. "I try to get out every night, but lots of times it's more like every three days. She can take care of herself, though."  
That made Clarke sad. No one should be kept away from the person they needed the most just because the leadership needed a swift kick. "You should tell Bellamy. Maybe it'd be easier to go see her if you didn't have to sneak out. Besides, logic indicates that at least one person has seen you leave before."  
Murphy agreed. The odds weren't in his favor, but no one had said anything yet, so Emori was still safe. "I don't want to risk her. She'd be arrested if she was caught this far in."  
"Why?"  
"Mori's a blood stain." Murphy hated the term. It wasn't true, and she was too good for the association. "And she's also a recreational thief."  
Clarke laughed a bit at the last part. "Wow. You've got your hands full."  
"Yeah. But I love her." It came out without his consent, but he didn't mind. He loved her and that's all there was.  
"So tell Bellamy." Clarke insisted. "I'll be there to keep him from doing anything stupid if you want."  
Murphy hated that she was right, but now that the other clans were on the move thanks to the Capitol, Emori's hiding place was not guaranteed anymore. The Militia's protection would be handy. "Okay. We'll talk tonight during guard duty."  
"Thanks, Murphy." Clarke met his eyes. "I mean it. It's really nice to hear that there's something that works."  
Murphy nodded, not sure what to do with her gratitude. "Any time."  
~~  
Clarke waited until Murphy was gone to try and roll out of bed. The baby squirmed and she sighed. At least it wasn't an upsetting feeling anymore. She ran her hand over her belly and smiled to herself, remembering Bellamy's hands on her the night before. She knew that she should be worried about how easy it was for her to let the man touch her that boldly, but she trusted him inherently. Besides, she reasoned, if he was going to hurt us, he would have done it by now, or never taken me in in the first place. She wrapped herself up in that pleasant thought as she slipped on her borrowed boots and socks to go and get a bit of breakfast.

Bellamy hadn't felt so happy in a long time. When he had woken up beside Clarke, he could almost pretend that they were a family. Of course, he had mentally kicked himself for that thought immediately after, but it still made him happy. He would be there for Clarke however she needed him to be, but he could hope that he had a shot with her. He had slowly separated himself from her and slipped from the cabin as the sun was rising to go back to the cabin that he shared with Octavia to get dressed and try to make it look like he hadn't spent the night with Clarke. Even half asleep, Octavia had a few salty comments for her big brother about his night, but she promised not to say anything until Clarke said it was okay.

The Blakes went to breakfast together and got coffee to ward off the morning chill. Octavia was waiting by the fire for Jasper and Monty (her hunting partners for the day) to wake up enough to shuffle from their cabin. Bellamy sat facing the medical cabin (but not obviously, of course, because no one in the camp had any idea whatsoever that their leader had eyes for the new girl) and waited for Clarke. He determined that if, by the time Jasper and Monty were eating, Clarke wasn't at least awake, he would go in there and bring her some food. He wanted to give her an opportunity to be independent for a while, first, though. It would be good for her to try.  
And sure enough, Jasper and Monty had just sat down on either side of Octavia when Clarke shuffled from the cabin, her hair flying around her in the wind. Bellamy stood, taking long strides to meet her half-way. "Good morning." he greeted her, eyes flicking over her to make sure she was alright. He regretted not giving her a coat, but beyond that she looked better than she had the night before.  
"Morning, Bellamy." Clarke offered him a small smile. She hoped things wouldn't be awkward between them after what had happened in the cabin. "How'd you sleep?" It was a stupid question, she knew, but it was all she had.  
"Pretty well, actually. You? You look better." Bellamy was happy that he had cause to worry over her because then he didn't have to face how easy it would be for him to sweep her into his arms and hold her until dark.  
"Thanks. I slept better than I have in years, I think. You're very relaxing."  
"O trained me well." Bellamy smiled. "She used to share a bed with me growing up."  
Clarke nodded. "I hope she doesn't mind me stealing her heater."  
Bellamy chuckled. "No. I don't think she'll mind sharing." He shrugged off his jacket and held it out to her. "Here. I don't want you two to freeze out here."  
Clarke accepted it warily. She was more worried about Bellamy than herself. "But you'll freeze." she protested.  
Bellamy draped the coat over her thin shoulders. "Don't worry. I always run warm." He met her eyes as though to say 'the discussion's over. Do it.'  
Clarke fingered the jacket before slipping her arms through the warm sleeves. It smelled like Bellamy and was still warm from him, too. She wouldn't be taking it off for a while. "Thanks."  
"Of course. Come get some food." Bellamy took her hand without thinking and walked matched her slow pace back to the fire. Octavia and Jasper raised their eyebrows and grinned and Monty nodded.  
Clarke looked down at her feet awkwardly, unused to the attention and followed Bellamy to the rations table.  
~~  
Murphy was already at the watch post when Bellamy jogged up, rifle across his back. The leader had spent the morning with Clarke: walking her around, talking, teaching her gun safety, and telling her about the kids. Then Octavia had come back and insisted that she was stealing his date, so he headed to the post early. He was surprised to see Murphy already there.  
"You're early." Murphy observed, not turning around. He had memorized the footsteps of everyone in camp. He knew it was Bellamy.  
"So are you." Bellamy replied, climbing the wall to join him. "What were you doing?"  
"I took Harper's morning shift. She had some stuff she wanted to do and I had nothing I couldn't do up here."  
Bellamy didn't like schedules changing without his knowledge or anyone taking a full day's watch, but Murphy was his lieutenant so he let it slide. "She okay?"  
"Yeah." Murphy hesitated for a moment before turning to actually look at Bellamy. "So, I talked to Clarke this morning and she wanted me to ask you something."  
Bellamy raised his eyebrows. "Okay. Shoot."  
"What, you? I didn't think you wanted to die that bad." Murphy masked his nerves with humor. Bellamy shoved him. "Okay, okay." Murphy sobered up. "I've been sneaking out some nights when I don't have anything else to do here. There's this girl - okay, I'm dating her, but whatever- and she's hiding in one of the bunkers in the woods. I go and be with her. But the thing is, she's a stain and, with Polis marching, she isn't safe and I was wondering if she could come in."

Bellamy had to take a few minutes of stunned silence to process what his friend had said. He didn't know what he was more shocked by: the fact that Murphy was sneaking out and hadn't been caught, or that the pessimistic nutcase had a girlfriend. He knew the ramifications of helping a stain, but he didn't really care. They'd all be killed if they were captured anyway, so the point was moot. "Um... Yeah. She can come inside." he finally determined. "Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?"  
Murphy took a second to be really relieved. That could have gone so much worse. "Okay, really. You're asking that? With Miller and Harper in camp, why I wouldn't declare I got a girlfriend."  
Bellamy smiled. "Okay. Fair point."  
"Yeah. Thanks. She's a good strategist- she'll be useful."  
"Man, I'm mostly in it to see you with someone." Bellamy teased.  
Murphy took his turn shoving Bellamy. "Shut up."  
"Bring her in tonight, okay?"  
"Yeah. Okay."  
\--  
Clarke looked up from rolling bandages at the long table at the back of the med cabin. Bellamy had set her up with several hours-worth of work to do to keep medical well-organized while he was on guard duty. "Come in!" she called, not stopping or looking up. After countless hours of lying around, she was thankful for something to do.  
Octavia's boots pounded on the wood floor as she strode toward the new woman. "Hey. Harper and I thought you'd like to clean up. The pond should be warm by now. It's only a few minutes from here. You game?" She still addressed Clarke like she was fragile. She wanted to take care of the woman - especially since Bellamy liked her.  
"S-sure." Clarke was surprised. "Thanks. Is... is Bellamy okay with this?" She couldn't help it - she was worried she'd upset the leader and be thrown out, or worse.  
Octavia covered Clarke's hand with her own gloved one. "Bellamy doesn't run your life."  
Clarke nodded. "I know. Sorry."  
"It's okay." Octavia offered her a hand up. "Come on. We'll meet Harper at the gate."  
"Okay." Clarke let Octavia pull her from the chair, taking a moment to breathe after the baby shifted. She hadn't realized how long she'd been sitting until blood rushed into her legs again.  
"You good?" Octavia asked, worried.  
"Yeah." 

Octavia led Clarke through the camp slowly, letting the older woman stop whenever she needed. Octavia would have rathered that her brother's charge had been stronger before they tried to make the walk, but she was dirty and Monty had reminded Octavia that Clarke would probably feel better once she was clean. So she had gotten Harper and made some time to take Clarke out. Granted, neither of them knew how to help Clarke, but they would do what she needed. As they neared the gate, Clarke started to look nervous. "Hey." Octavia squeezed her hand. "It's okay."  
Clarke nodded.

Harper met them at the gate with two towels, a cake of soap, and Clarke's black dress, cleaned and mended. When she saw Octavia leading Clarke by the hand, she started toward them. She had never met Clarke before, but she had heard all the news about her. "Hi." she greeted the two, trying not to sound too chipper. Monroe said it annoyed people.  
"Hey." Octavia replied. "Clarke, this is Harper."  
"Nice to meet you." Clarke replied, nodding. "Thank you for loaning me the boots."  
Harper shrugged. "No problem. Shall we?"

Octavia kept Clarke's hand in hers as they picked over the beaten path from the gate to the pool. No one stopped them or asked any questions. Clarke didn't seem to be having any issues getting there, but she was noticeably tired when the girls led her to a large rock to sit down. "You okay?" Harper asked Clarke worriedly.  
Clarke nodded. "Yeah. Just a bit tired."  
Octavia rested her hand on a knife on her belt, scanning the woods warily. They were usually safe, but she didn't want to take any chances with Clarke. Once she was satisfied that Clarke would be safe, she knelt in front of her and met her eyes. "You ready?"  
Clarke nodded. She didn't really know how she would go about undressing with her belly this large, but her immediate concern was keeping her balance while she took off her boots. It was a contortionist's trick to get them on and off under normal circumstances when she had something to support her. A rock was hardly that.  
Before Clarke could begin trying to untie her boots, Octavia's nimble fingers were already undoing the laces. Clarke tried to protest, but the girl stopped her. "Just relax." she instructed kindly. "Let us help you."

Clarke wasn't sure what to say as Harper and Octavia helped her out of her clothing. She felt uncomfortable, to say the least, with the girls seeing her undressed in broad daylight. It wasn't because she was vain or particularly unaccustomed to being bare in front of people she hardly knew; it was that she knew she was not healthy and these were children - probably younger than she was - trying to help her. And above all, she didn't want Octavia to tell her brother how sickly she looked.   
"I'm gonna take the bandage off, okay? Everything should be sealed up enough so it can get wet." Harper informed her, reaching around her belly to unwrap the gauze that covered her injury. "It needs some air anyway."  
Clarke nodded. "Thanks." When the bandage came off, she inspected it as best she could, satisfied that there was enough of a scab to warrant open exposure.   
"Want a hand?" Octavia offered once Clarke was stripped and ready to go into the pool. Clarke took her extended hand and hauled herself to her feet, following the younger girl to the pool. "It's gonna be a bit cold." Octavia warned, wading in with Clarke up to her ankles.  
"Get back on shore, Octavia! Your boots're going to leak." Clarke admonished, sounding like the mother she was about to be.  
Octavia sighed. "You gonna be okay on your own?" She didn't want to leave Clarke until she was confident. If her boots leaked, it wouldn't be the first time. They would dry.  
"I'll be fine. Thanks." Clarke waved her off, thankful for someone else to worry over to get the attention off of herself. She was starting to feel very awkward.  
"Okay."Octavia released her and trudged back to shore, her boots soggy. Clarke waded in the opposite direction, smiling slightly at the feeling of clean water rushing around her. She hadn't been clean since she left her last safe place. As she submerged herself, she wondered if she should tell Bellamy and the others where she came from - what if it was an issue for them? Were they one of the militias that was an enemy of the Capitol? She didn't want to give up another safe place, but she didn't want to lead them on. She decided, though, that it wasn't time yet. She would tell them once she knew more about them... or once someone asked. Whichever came first.

Harper and Octavia stood on the very edge of the shore and watched Clarke like hawks, waiting to see any sign of trouble with the young woman. Harper had set the cake of soap on a rock on the shore near the deepest part of the pool for when Clarke was ready. The waterfall that roared twenty feet from the blonde made the water colder, but the deepest parts close to the shore were nearer to it, so Harper waved her over once she was thoroughly rinsed off. The girls were careful to stay out of earshot of Clarke while she cleaned off her hair and skin, trying to give her a degree of privacy in at least one area without sacrificing her safety.  
"Where did she come from?" Harper asked softly.  
"She didn't say." Octavia replied without moving. "She might've said something to Bell, though."  
"I hope no one's looking for her. That's trouble no one needs."  
"She seemed to have been running from something, and someone hurt her at one point." Octavia reminded Harper. "But I think she'd have said something if someone was out looking for her."  
Harper kept quiet for another before smiling slightly. "You know who'd like her?"  
"Raven." Octavia and Harper said in sync. The mechanic would love Clarke, if for no other reason than she was a sexually-experienced girl her age. Raven would also protect the crap out of Clarke, but everyone already did. "Have we heard from her yet?" Octavia had kept forgetting to check in with Jasper, who was responsible for manning the one radio channel they had.  
"Not for a while." Harper tried not to sound worried. It was like Raven to forget to check in. "Last we heard, she was still in Polis trying to figure out their tech."  
Octavia shifted. That was becoming a dangerous place for anyone remotely connected to a militia to be. Raven was their friend and an asset they couldn't afford to lose. "Do we need to radio her to get her back here?"  
Harper shrugged. "I doubt things are that bad yet. She'll tell us if she's coming home."  
Octavia nodded. "Yeah."

Clarke waded back to the sandbar Octavia had brought her in through and brushed her dripping hair out of her eyes. It felt so good to be clean. Octavia took notice of her movement and grabbed a towel from the rock. She waded in to meet Clarke again and wrapped the worn fabric around her tightly. "Thanks." the blonde murmured, shivering in the cool air.  
"Sure." Octavia replied, distracted. "Let's get you dried off."  
Harper stood on the shore in wait with another towel to start drying Clarke's long hair. Neither had thought to bring a comb, but Harper had long enough fingers to do the job. Once Clarke was seated on the rock again, both girls descended on her again, drying her off and dressing her as quickly as possible. They worked largely in silence, Harper whispering the occasional apology when she would accidentally pull Clarke's hair as she combed through it. Octavia laced Clarke's borrowed boots over clean socks, careful not to tie the laces too tightly, and bundled up the soap and towels and Clarke's old clothing while Harper finished fussing over Clarke.  
"We'll wrap the cut when we get back." Octavia determined, skilled eyes scanning the sky. It would be dinner soon and Octavia wanted to get back and get Clarke warmed up and re-bandaged before then. "She's dry enough, Harper."  
Harper rolled her eyes. She was used to Octavia's bossy nature. "Clarke, are you ready?" She could almost imagine how exhausting it would be to try to walk through water with the extra weight on your center of gravity so she wanted to give Clarke some time to recover before they made the walk back.  
Clarke nodded, hoping she had enough energy to keep up with the girls on the walk home. Uphill would be harder, inevitably, but she knew she had Octavia to help her.

Again, Octavia took Clarke's hand and kept it in hers until they made it to the gate. They stopped every few minutes so Clarke could catch her breath, and she sometimes had to lean on both of them to stay upright, but they made it inside before dinner.  
"Clarke, is it okay if Harper helps you get your side bandaged? I've gotta help the boys with dinner." Octavia asked once they were in the common area.  
"I'll be okay, Octavia. I think I can get it on my own." Clarke protested.  
Harper rested a gentle hand on her arm. "Let me help. Just in case, okay?"  
Clarke wasn't going to turn her down, so she nodded and let herself be led into the med cabin, by the eager girl. Octavia strode in the opposite direction, already barking orders at the boys gathered around the cutting tables.


	8. Evening: Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Bellamy go on a date? (at least, they went to dinner together.) Murphy brings the elusive Emori in to meet everyone. Monty has some bad news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> I'm so sorry that these chapters have been so far between. I just graduated high school, so I might be able to get my head together. Thank you to those that reviewed and left kudos on the last chapter - that means a lot to me!  
> I also wanted to give you a heads-up that this story is part of a collection. The prequel, "Beacon of Hope," will help explain the prior part of Clarke's journey. If you like Clarke & Lexa as a ship, or know anyone who does, "Beacon of Hope" is a Clexa story. Feel free to check it out.
> 
> Thanks for all your support! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Harper sat Clarke down on the bed she had occupied earlier and hurried to the back wall to get the first aid kit. Clarke watched her blankly, absent-mindedly rubbing her belly. It occurred to her that bandaging her side would be harder now that she was back in her dress, but she was comfortable enough with Harper where she was willing to pull the dress up- after all, the girl had just helped her bathe. It was strange, now that Clarke thought about it, how she used to be so private but just a year later she couldn't really care less who saw her in what stage of undress if there was a good reason for it. Idly, she wondered how much else would change after she had the baby.

Harper opened the first aid kit on the floor beside the bed and looked up at Clarke, nervousness just barely showing in her eyes. "I think we're gonna have to pull the dress up, if that's okay." Deep down, Harper knew it was for medical purposes, but it was still hard to ask that of Clarke. She didn't want to make the guest feel uncomfortable.  
Clarke nodded. "It's okay." she assured Harper, shifting to lift the black fabric above her belly.  
Harper dotted ointment on the scab before wrapping it with gauze again, keeping her eyes on the task at hand. She didn't really know anything about medicine- she was a guard and a cook when she needed to be- but she knew how to bandage a cut. She just didn't want to hurt Clarke. Her anxiety wasn't helping any, either. Clarke would probably feel much better if someone who was confident in what they were doing like Octavia or Miller was helping her.

A knock on the door scared both girls out of their thoughts. Clarke recovered first. "Come in!" she called.  
Bellamy stuck his head in, gun swinging from its strap on his shoulder. "Hey. Octavia got dinner pulled together."  
Harper stood, kit in hand. "The boys didn't screw it up?"   
Bellamy laughed, his smile momentarily distracting Clarke. "Apparently not." he replied. He crossed the room with long, easy strides and stood before Clarke, offering her his hand. "Would you like to come to dinner with me?"  
Clarke wasn't sure why he was acting like that - all smiles and lightness. He was so serious even just that morning. What had changed? Not that she was complaining; she liked this happy Bellamy. It suited him much better than the worried leader she had met outside the gate. So she took his hand, smiling along while Harper tried not to say something - Clarke could only imagine what. "I would." she told him as he gently hoisted her back onto her feet.  
He offered her his arm like the perfect gentleman and she blinked at him for a moment. It had been a long time since a man had done that for her. He knew that she didn't need the support - she was fine on her own - so why was he like this? Was he... no. She couldn't assume he was flirting with her. It couldn't be that. She felt terribly vain and silly for hoping that it was really that, though. Regardless of his intent, she took his offered arm, curling her small hand around his (admittedly quite firm) bicep. After all, she reminded herself, it would be rude not to. Bellamy offered her a shy smile and nodded to Harper, who was grinning like a fool. "Shall we?"

Bellamy kept Clarke on his arm the whole walk to the long tables near the center of the camp. Most of the kids were already seated on the wood benches, metal plates and cups before them. Chatter filled the air. Clarke smiled. It reminded her of Polis and her dinners with... No. she reminded herself firmly. That's off limits. She smiled at Bellamy when he led her to the end of a long table, putting some sizable distance between them and everyone else. "I'd pull your chair out for you, but we kinda don't have chairs." Bellamy said, smiling slightly. "I could try to pull the bench out, but I think the kids would riot."  
Clarke laughed. Actually laughed. She hadn't done that in a long time. "Please don't do that."  
Bellamy joined her laughter. "Yeah, okay." He helped her sit and squeezed her hand. "I'll be right back with dinner."  
Clarke smiled up at him. "Okay. Thanks, Bellamy."  
Bellamy nodded. "Of course."  
Clarke sighed and watched his retreating figure. He looked good in that black jacket, and the thigh holster for his handgun certainly didn't hurt anything. Before she could get too preoccupied, she turned back to the table, studying it's grain intently.

Bellamy tried not to look back at Clarke about thirty times while he was making them each a plate. He worried about the young woman, but more than that, he couldn't stop looking at her. He knew she was not comfortable in her own skin, and he could only imagine how she thought she looked, but the way the evening sun shone on her hair was amazing. He couldn't believe anyone let someone as beautiful and kind as her fall to pieces. He was determined to put her back together and keep her safe. He sighed and shook his head as he started back toward her, wondering if he had gotten enough food for her and the little one. He hoped so. He wanted to be her provider - not just the camp's. Hers.

He sat down across from Clarke and placed a gentle smile on his face. "Hey."   
Clarke looked up. "Hi. Thanks for dinner."  
Bellamy nodded. "Of course. Are you feeling up to eating?"  
Clarke nodded. "You don't have to worry about me, Bell." She tried for an easy smile and popped a berry in her mouth. Truth was, she did feel better. She felt like she might be able to eat something without something bad happening.  
"I don't." Bellamy conceded. "But I'm going to."  
Clarke smiled. "Alright." She waited for a moment before speaking again. "So, did you and Murphy talk today?"  
Bellamy looked up. "Yeah. Did he talk to you?"  
Clarke nodded. "Did you let him bring her in?"  
Bellamy nodded. "I did. It's getting pretty tense out there - I'm glad he said something now before she got hurt."  
Clarke looked up. "What is going on? Everyone here seems so tense and worried."  
"Polis is trying to eradicate all the militias." Bellamy explained. "Even groups like ours that only armed-up after they started to wipe militias out."  
Clarke shook her head. She knew the decision-making process in Polis, and she wasn't surprised, but it still made her sad that the Coalition would go after teenagers for no reason. The Militia didn't seem to be doing anything wrong. "Have they come here yet?" she asked, trying to keep her tone casual.  
"No." Bellamy was quick to assure her. "But that's why we're on guard. They'll come soon."  
Clarke looked down at her food. "I hope they don't."  
"Us, too." Bellamy agreed, closing the conversation and returning to his own food in comfortable silence.  
~  
John's boots crunched in the drying grass as he ran out to Emori's bunker. He didn't even knock on the door. "Mori?" he called once he was inside - he didn't want to risk being seen, even now.  
"John?" Emori replied from the depths of the bunker. "You're here early." She jogged over to him and kissed him, smiling. "I've missed you."  
He couldn't help but smile. "I've missed you, too." He took a minute to look at her before speaking again. "Listen, I talked to Bellamy today. It's getting dangerous for you to be out here alone, and I can't sneak out very much, but he said you can come inside."  
Emori blinked. "Why?"  
"I guess he was in a good mood." John shrugged. "We should go soon, though. Dinner's gonna be soon."  
Emori looked vaguely interested. "Dinner?" she asked. "With people?"  
"Yeah, with people, Mori. You'll get to meet everyone."  
"Is Raven there?" Emori wanted to meet the mechanic that was so close with her boyfriend - maybe she could help her figure out John.  
John shook his head. "Nah. She hasn't come back from Polis yet. You'll meet her when she gets back, though."  
"Okay." Emori agreed. She was nervous going in to live among people - she had never done that - but they were John's people, so they couldn't be all bad, right? That's what she was counting on. That, and her big knife.

John helped her pack what few stolen things she had, stopping to kiss her every now and then. She liked the attention. "What's gonna happen when we get there?" she asked him.  
John stopped and turned to her. "What do you mean?"  
"Are they gonna like me?" She had never really been interested with what people said about her, but she cared now.  
"Of course, Mori." he was quick to assure her, zipping her pack and shouldering it. "Shall we?"  
Emori took one last look around the bunker and followed him out, taking his hand.  
~  
Emori held John's hand tighter as the Militia's gates loomed above them. He looked down at her with an almost-calm smile. "It's okay." he told her. "Open up!" he shouted at the gate a moment later.  
The gate clattered open and a young man stood in the path, a gun strapped to his back. "Hey, guys." he greeted the couple. "Welcome."  
John nodded, guiding Emori in. "Thanks, Miller. This is my girlfriend, Emori. Mori, this is Miller. He runs the guards."  
Emori managed a smile for Miller. "Hello."  
Miller nodded. "Hey. Come on, I'll walk you to dinner."  
John kept a hand on Emori at all times as they followed Miller to the long tables of people in the center of the camp. Emori had never seen so many people all in one place. She looked up at John for reassurance as they walked, hoping that he was going to lead them past the people. Sadly, Miller found the couple a place at the end of a table, not nearly as far away from people as Emori would have liked.

"There are so many people, John." she leaned over and whispered once Miller had left.  
John smiled. "I know. This isn't even all of them. You'll be okay, though. Promise." Emori smiled when he took her hand. "Do you want some dinner?"  
Emori shook her head. "I ate. You should, though."  
John rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Mori. Don't worry."  
"I'll always worry." she reminded him. "Look at you - you're a mess without me."  
"This is true." John agreed. "Now I can have my life in order."

"Are you sure about that?" a man's voice asked from behind John. Emori looked up from the table with wide eyes.  
John turned around. "Shut up, Bellamy." he joked.   
Both Bellamy and the woman standing with him laughed. John turned around to see them both and Emori frowned slightly when he let go of her hand. "I guess I have to have social skills now, don't I?" John grumbled like the old man he secretly was inside. "Emori, this is Bellamy, our self-proclaimed leader. And this is Clarke, our newest member. This is Emori, the one I told you about."  
Bellamy offered a handshake, which Emori stared at with a great deal of confusion. "What are you doing?" she asked mistrustfully.  
Clarke stepped in. "He's offering you a greeting - it's a show of friendship." She changed the subject. "It's nice to meet you, Emori."  
"Nice to meet you, too." Emori replied automatically. "Are you alright? Bellamy looks at you like you will break."  
John smiled and shook his head. Bellamy blushed slightly at being caught having feelings. Clarke just smiled and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm fine. He's just worried." She paused, then added conspiratorially, "He always worries."  
"I do not!" Bellamy protested, keeping with the light mood. He enjoyed banter like this - it helped him remember that they were all still kids.  
John rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, mom."

Everyone had to laugh at that. While they were all needling Bellamy, Emori used their distraction as a cover to examine Clarke: she was so thin, but she looked like she'd have her baby any second. Most people who looked like her were long dead. She didn't want to ask, but she was curious. She'd ask John later. She had been so busy worrying that she hadn't noticed that the others had stopped talking.   
"You okay, Mori?" John asked, taking her hand across the table again.  
Emori snapped her eyes away from Clarke and back to John. "Fine. Sorry."  
Clarke rounded the end of the table and studied Emori. "You have a question." she observed. No judgment, just a statement.  
Emori looked down. "Never mind." she mumbled.  
"It's okay." Clarke assured her. "Ask."  
Emori kept a tight hold on John's hand while she spoke, trying not to sound more odd than she already was. "How are you alive?"  
Clarke cocked her head. "What do you mean?"  
"You're so small, but your stomach's big. " She looked up at Clarke, very worried. "Is your baby alive?"  
Bellamy raised his eyebrows in warning to John to control his girlfriend, but John shut him down while Clarke answered. "Yeah. They're alive. I guess we're lucky." she smiled, rubbing her hand lightly over her belly.  
"Do they move?" Emori had heard women talking about it when she was small - how odd it was to feel something moving around inside you.   
Clarke nodded. "Do you want to feel?"  
Emori looked to Bellamy first for permission. The leader nodded. "Go ahead."  
Emori released John's hand and gave her good hand to Clarke. The woman rested their hands on the crest of her belly and Emori waited expectantly. "You were just wanting attention a minute ago." Clarke murmured to her baby. "Don't be shy now." She tapped her belly gently and Emori grinned, feeling a tiny limb press against her hand.  
"Oh." she whispered. "Hi, little one."  
Clarke smiled. "They like you."  
Emori smiled up at Clarke. "Are you excited to meet them?"  
Clarke nodded, and Bellamy moved to rest a hand on Clarke's back. "We both are." he told her.  
John took Emori's hand again and looked up at the (almost couple). "Thanks for letting Mori come stay with us. It'll be nice to have some time with her again."  
Bellamy looked vaguely uncomfortable. "Yeah." His eyes landed on Emori and the girl tried not to flinch away. "He really likes you, Emori. Take good care of him."  
Emori nodded. "I will."  
"I don't need to be taken care of." John protested.  
Emori just smiled and patted his hand. "Okay, John."

"Hey, guys?" Monty called, skidding to a stop near the table. "We heard from Raven."  
Bellamy and Murphy looked up. "What'd she say?" Murphy asked.  
"Things are getting bad there. She needs to get pulled. Now."  
Bellamy released Clarke and rested his hand on his gun. Murphy got up from the table. "Murphy, go get the team." Bellamy ordered. "Monty, gear up Rover One."  
Emori looked around, completely lost and a little afraid. Clarke rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay." she told the girl. "Murphy always stays when the others go out. He'll look out for you."  
John tuned back to Emori, an apology in his eyes. "I'm sorry. Can you give me a minute?"  
"Go ahead." Emori told him, trying not to be nervous. No one but Clarke and Bellamy had noticed her. Maybe she'd be okay. After all, he was coming back.

Bellamy took Clarke gently by the arm and murmured something in her ear. "Come on." he told her.  
Clarke nodded. "It'll be okay, Bell." she assured him, but followed him around the table anyway. "Monty, can you walk Emori to Murphy's cabin, please?" she asked before she left.  
Monty nodded. "Sure."  
Clarke turned to Emori, slightly worried about the young woman. She looked very nervous. "Monty will stay with you until Murphy gets back, if you want. Nobody's going to hurt you here, okay?"  
Emori nodded, trying to calm down so she didn't freak out the boy who was assigned to her. "Good to meet you, Clarke."  
"You, too, Emori. I'll see you around." Clarke offered the new girl a smile before Bellamy led her back to medical. "You worry too much, Bellamy." she told him once they were away from his friends.  
Bellamy looked down at her with worried eyes. "I know. I just want you to be safe."  
Clarke nodded and went obediently into Medical. "Come say goodbye before you go?" She knew she had no right to ask that of him - she wasn't anything to him - but she still wanted to know when he was leaving.   
Bellamy nodded, helping her get comfortable reclining against a stack of pillows with a book. "Of course. See you in a bit."  
"Okay." Clarke fingered the book Bellamy had handed her. The "Illiad". She smiled. "What a nerd."


	9. While He's Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy says goodbye and takes the crew out to Polis. Clarke befriends Emori, and Octavia tries not to worry about Clarke or her brother.
> 
> I'm so sorry that this has been so long coming. I moved across the country and started full-time college again. Thank you to all the sweet reviewers and those who have stuck with me for so long. You're the best!

"Hey." Bellamy greeted Clarke, slipping into Medical.   
Clarke smiled and set her book aside. "Hi. Leaving?"  
He nodded. "Yeah. Can I get you anything before we go?"  
"I'm okay, thanks." Clarke declined.  
Bellamy knelt beside the bed and rested his hand gently on her belly. "I hate leaving you two." It had slipped out before he caught it. He hadn't meant to say it, but he found that he didn't regret it.  
Clarke smiled. "We're going to miss you." Maybe she was crazy, maybe it was the hormones, but she meant it. She was going to miss Bellamy. "Be safe, please?"  
Bellamy nodded. "It's just a quick extraction. We'll be home in a day, tops." He rubbed Clarke's belly. "Murphy's in charge. He'll take care of you."  
"Don't take him away from his girlfriend." Clarke protested. "She really looked scared."  
"Of course. He's getting her settled in right now." Bellamy assured her. "Do you want O in here in case you need anything?"  
Clarke smiled, running her fingers over his arm. "It's okay, thanks. I don't want to confine Octavia."  
Bellamy smiled. "She'll come in anyway, I bet. Everyone loves you."

"I'm worried about Murphy's girlfriend." Clarke said after a moment of silence.  
"Why's that?" Bellamy wondered. Murphy's girlfriend had seemed a bit nervous, but he didn't see why Clarke was so concerned.  
"Didn't you see her?" Clarke sounded shocked. "She was so jumpy. I think she's scared of us."  
Bellamy thought back to meeting Emori. He supposed that she had been a little clingy with Murphy. Maybe he hadn't really been paying very much attention. "I trust Murphy to take good care of her. You shouldn't worry."  
Clarke knew he was placating her, but she let it go. "Okay. Please come back soon."  
Bellamy nodded. "I will. I promise." He stood and kissed her forehead. "Try and get some rest tonight."  
"I will. Good luck."

Bellamy found that he couldn't look behind him until he reached the rover. Jasper and Miller were already packed in and ready to go. "Dude, what took so long?" Miller asked.  
"I wanted to make sure Clarke would be okay." Bellamy replied, slamming the back door of the Rover. "We ready to go?"  
Jasper nodded. "All set. Let's do this."  
~  
"Guard schedule still stands, guys." Murphy informed the crowd of worried teens surrounding him. Finish eating and go relieve the afternoons. We've done this before."  
There was a ripple of murmured "yeah"'s and "got it"'s and the kids dispersed, leaving Murphy and Emori mostly alone in the dining area.  
"Do you want to go get settled in, Mori?" he asked gently.  
Emori pressed closer to him. "Okay. Are you able to leave?"  
John kissed her head. "Yeah. They know what to do."  
Emori took his hand and let him lead her from the main area toward the cluster of cabins.

John held his cabin door open for Emori and ushered her in. "Welcome."  
Emori looked around the small building and smiled. It looked like John: there were some old books on a rough shelf, a neatly-made bed, and a table with one chair. "It's nice." she commented softly. "It's you."  
John followed her in and set her bag down on the bed. "I'm glad you like it. Do you want to unpack?"  
"Okay." Emori agreed meekly. She unzipped her bag and was shocked to find that John had already cleared space for her amongst his things. "Thank you, John." she murmured, keeping her back resolutely to her partner. "It's not a survivor move bringing me here."  
John captured her around the waist and held her close. "It is for you."  
Emori smiled briefly at the contact, but she still felt guilty for endangering her partner. She hadn't thought about the ramifications when he had offered to take her in the first place. She had just wanted to be with him more. "This isn't like when we met." she insisted. "You could get caught and hurt."  
John turned her around so he could meet her eyes. "We could have been caught in the ditch, too. Gallivanting around the woods was even riskier. C'mon, Mori."  
Emori sighed. "You're right, John. I just don't want anything to happen to you."  
"And nothing will." John assured her, kissing her deeply.  
Emori hummed against his lips and finally let herself relax.  
~  
Clarke was getting really sick of laying in bed. She closed her book with a sigh and pushed herself upright. "I wonder how Murphy's girlfriend's doing." she said to herself. She decided then that, since she didn't have a watcher yet, she could probably make the walk to Murphy's cabin... that is, if she could find out which one was his. She had noticed some carved plaques beside some of the doors she had passed and it was a good chance some of them had names on them. That would be the smart thing to do, after all, when all of the cabins looked nearly identical. She slipped her boots on and went for the door. She started with the cabins closest to Medical, but none of them said "Murphy." She was right that the plaques had names on them, though they didn't seem to be in any specific order.

It took fifteen minutes of slow walking through rows of cabins before Clarke found Murphy's cabin. She hesitantly knocked on the door and jumped when Emori opened it. "Hello." Clarke greeted her awkwardly.  
"Hello, Clarke. John just left, but I can fi-"  
Clarke interrupted her gently. "I'm actually here to check on you. But thanks."  
Emori looked shocked. "Oh. Come in." She wasn't used to having a residence to allow people inside of but she still had some of her social graces.  
"Thank you." Clarke smiled and followed Emori in. The cabin was small compared to Medical, but Murphy had made excellent use of the space and Emori already looked at home. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything and if you were settling in okay."  
"I'm fine, thank you." Emori assured her. "You can sit."  
Clarke eased herself down onto one of the chairs at the table and Emori took the other. She picked at the wrap on her left hand awkwardly while she waited for Clarke to speak. "How're you liking the Militia so far?" the younger woman finally asked.  
Emori shrugged. "They seem like a loud group. John likes them."  
Clarke heard Emori's mention of Murphy and locked on to it. "You put a lot of stake in what Murphy says, don't you?"  
"John knows these people." Emori replied. "If he hasn't left yet, then they're safe enough for me."  
"You didn't answer the question." Clarke pointed out meekly.  
Emori smiled slightly. "Yes. I trust John with my life."  
"Good. It's good you have someone like that." Clarke paused. "What were you doing before you two met? If- if you don't mind my asking."  
Emori shook her head. "I was a scavenger. A thief." She wasn't sure how much she should share with the woman - how much of Clarke's inquisitiveness she could chalk up to a maternal worry still developing and how much was the desire for information for the sake of knowing it. She decided that, whatever the case, she could trust John to protect her if need be. "My brother and I were heavily involved in the tech trade. I was his bait. He was the one that did the selling. We did this for years. Then, six months ago, we-" She swallowed hard. "we split up. I don't know where he is. I was so far into the interior that I knew I was dead. I fell into a ditch and got knocked out and that's where John found me."

Clarke sat with Emori's story for a moment before carefully selecting her answer. "Wow. You've been through a lot. I'm glad you're safe now."  
Emori was surprised to find honesty in Clarke's eyes. She had only heard that from one other person: John. "Thank you. And what about you? Why are you here?" It came out harsher than she intended but Clarke overlooked it.  
"I was wandering around in the woods one night a little while ago and Bellamy and Miller came and took me in. I needed a place to stay and they offered me the best one I had found since I was a child. I just hope it's safe enough for the baby."  
Emori met her eyes. "Bellamy really cares about you. I can tell. He will make this place safe for you both, I am sure."  
"I hope so. I don't have the best track record with safe places." Clarke worried.  
Emori studied Clarke for signs of vulnerability before continuing. "The baby's father was not a man you wanted, was he?"  
"No." Clarke replied callously. "I did not even know him... or which one he was."  
"John says there is no shame in what happened to you." Emori offered. She could not honestly give Clarke advice she still struggled to follow herself.  
"That's happened to you?" Clarke asked, her worry plain as day on her face.  
Emori nodded.  
"I'm so sorry." Clarke was quick to apologize.  
"They are my past. John is my future."

"I'm what?" Murphy asked from the doorway. "Mori, are you talking to people again?"  
Emori smiled. "Shof op, John. We have a guest. Be nice."  
Murphy closed the door behind him and went to kiss Emori on the head. "Fine. Is Emori being polite, Clarke?"  
"She's just fine, Murphy." Clarke replied with a smile. "You two make a cute couple."  
Emori smiled up at Murphy. "We make a good team, too, right?"  
Murphy smiled as though she had just made a private joke. "Yes. We do." He kissed her forehead.  
Clarke knew she was intruding on their moment, then, and made her escape. "I'll leave you two alone." She pushed herself to her feet. "It was nice talking with you, Emori."  
Emori lifted her head from Murphy's chest and nodded politely to Clarke. "You as well. Do you want an escort back to Medical?"  
"No, I'm okay, thanks." Clarke declined. "I can get back by myself."  
"Octavia's waiting for you." Murphy chimed in. "She wanted to stay with you tonight since Bellamy's gone."  
Clarke smiled. "Okay. Thanks. I'll keep her company."

Murphy held the door for Clarke and she stepped out into the night. She knocked on Medical's door and heard Octavia's muffled voice call her in. The girl was sitting cross-legged on one of the beds, twirling a knife between her fingers. Her boots and jacket were tucked under the bedframe along with her sword. "Hey." she greeted the older girl.  
"Hi." Clarke greeted her, kicking off her boots and pushing them under her own bed. "Murphy said that you wanted to stay in here tonight. Everything okay?"  
Octavia nodded. "Yeah. I just figured that since Bell usually stayed here with you that I'd replace him till he gets back. Is that okay?"  
"Of course!" Clarke assured her. "You're always welcome here."  
"Thanks." Octavia smiled, setting her knife aside. "You should get off your feet, Clarke."  
Clarke nodded. "Just gonna get ready for bed first." She shuffled into the wash room off the main room and Octavia waited for her to re-emerge.

After a few minutes of clearing her head, Clarke was ready to go out and face Octavia again. She had thought that she might get a moment or two alone but she supposed that that was not to be expected when she was living in a public space. She could hardly blame the kids for hanging around, either. Bellamy had told them to look out for her - she thought it was sweet how seriously they took that request.  
When she went back to her bed, Octavia was already asleep on her bunk, knife held loosely in her hand. Clarke bent as much as she could and removed the weapon from the girl's hand. "Good night, Octavia." she murmured, turning back to her own bed and easing herself down. She rolled around for a few minutes, rubbing her belly to calm her squirming baby so she could get some sleep. It worked after a little while, though nothing could replace Bellamy's careful touch. She couldn't wait for him to come home.


	10. Polis (Overnight)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy, et al go to Polis and get Raven out. Bellamy can't wait to get home to Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I know it's been a month, but here's a short chapter. I love you guys and I hope I'm not ticking you off too much by making you wait...

Bellamy turned the Rover off and sighed. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous to go into the heart of the enemy's territory. Raven was worth it, though. The girl was going to be able to give them a lot of great information about what, exactly, Polis would do in retaliation on the militias. Not to mention that she was a good friend. Bellamy turned to the others in the car and studied their worried faces in the dark. "Ready?" he asked.  
They both nodded. Miller cocked his gun and Jasper opened the door. "Let's go."

The three slipped into the city limits without detection. There was no one around for miles until the city lights were in view. Then, they heard a woman screaming. Jasper very nearly fired a shot in surprise but Miller grabbed his gun before he could. "Dude." he hissed.  
Bellamy sighed, trying to calm down a little. He was already very nervous. "Jasper, if you can handle not shooting anyone, go see what's going on. She sounds like she might be in trouble. Just don't tell anyone who you're here."  
Jasper holstered his gun and nodded. "Got it. I'll meet you back at the Rover."  
"Go." Bellamy agreed. "Keep your head down."

Jasper flicked on his flashlight and kept it on the ground while he looked for the woman who was screaming. He had to wait every so often to hear it again so he could follow it, but, after ten minutes or so, he found a small clearing where a woman was on her knees with her head in her hands. Much to Jasper's surprise, there was no one else there. He had thought that someone was being hurt. Still, he had a duty to see what's going on and try to help. "Hey." he called in the silence between screams. "Are you okay?"  
The woman's head shot up. "Where are you?" she cried.  
Jasper shone his light toward where she was kneeling. "I'm behind you. It's okay. I'm here to help."  
"I don't need help." she argued.  
Jasper edged closer. "You were screaming. It sounds like you do."  
She turned around and the look in her eyes was enough to stop Jasper short. "Leave me alone."  
It took Jasper a minute to get over how she was glaring at him and realize that her glare was only sharp because her eyes were broken. He could tell that there was something deeply wrong with her. "No. I'm taking you home."  
"No." she gasped. "Please. I can't go back there."  
Before he knew it, she was crying. Jasper knelt beside her and set his flashlight aside. "Hey, it's okay." he tried to console her. Truth be told, he was totally out of his depth with her - he had no experience with crying women.  
"It's not." she insisted, her voice thick with tears and anger.  
"Okay." Jasper muttered. "W-why not?" He felt like that was probably the wrong thing to ask. Oh, well!  
"I sent her away." the woman sobbed. "I promised I-I'd look out f-for h-her, but I drove her away."  
"Could you talk to her? Maybe apologize?"  
"She left Polis. I don't know where she went."  
Jasper sighed. "I think you just need to calm down first. Then, make a plan to find her."  
The woman sniffled, looking up at him with watery eyes. "You're right. Though, I don't think she'd want to see me."  
Jasper stood and offered her a hand up. "It's worth a try. Come on. I'll walk you home."  
~  
Raven scanned the darkening sky and wondered what in the name of all that represented decent life decisions was taking the boys so long. She was a sitting duck (or raven) out in the market, but that was their agreed-upon exfil point. She pulled some wires out of her pocket and started playing with them to distract herself, twisting them into shapes and objects, then untwisting them and re-doing it until she heard the familiar hushed arguing of Miller and Bellamy. She jogged over to them, sneaking up behind them, and whacked them both upside the head and effectively stopping their quarreling. "Boys." she huffed.  
"Hey, Raven." Miller greeted her.  
"Cute." Bellamy muttered under his breath. "Hi, Raven."  
Raven pulled them in for a group hug. "Hi. Thanks for bailing me out."  
"Yeah. Let's go." Bellamy turned on his light again and started for the edge of the market, Raven and Miller hot on his heels. Once it was safe, Raven started grilling them on what had been happening back at Camp. It had been a few months since she'd been home. "Miller got a date with Bryan." Bellamy offered before Miller could say something embarrassing about him.  
If they hadn't been essentially running for their lives (in a shady, shady way), Raven would have stopped Miller cold and grilled him for details. "Congrats, man!" She punched him in the shoulder. "How far'd you get with him?"  
"Come on, Raven!" Miller grumbled. Somehow, everything ended up with sex if you talked to Raven. He had come to expect it. "Is now really the time?"  
"Puh-lease." Raven rolled her eyes. "It's not like we've got anyone watching us right now."  
"Save it for the Rover." Miller managed to buy himself more time.  
"Fine."  
Bellamy smiled to himself. He doubted Raven would forget her questions between Polis and the Rover like Miller was hoping.  
~  
Jasper questioned why the woman wanted him to leave her by a non-residential building. Sure, it made sense that she probably didn't want to bring a strange guy to her house, but it didn't really seem to him like she was in a place to be thinking that far ahead. "Are you sure you don't want me to actually walk you home?" he verified.  
She shook her head. "Bad idea." she muttered.  
"Okay." Jasper relented. "Take care of yourself, okay?"  
She sighed. "No point there. But thanks, kid."  
Jasper shrugged. "At least try. Screaming in the middle of the woods isn't always a good coping mechanism." That elicited a short laugh from the woman and Jasper figured he had done his job well enough. "Stay safe."  
"You, too." the woman replied before ducking into the shadows. Jasper figured it was high time he did the same.  
~  
Jasper was thankful to see shadows lurking by the Rover when he ran up. He recognized Raven's voice from a distance, reassuring him that said shadows were in fact his friends. "Hey!" he whisper-shouted upon approach.  
Bellamy's voice answered. "Jasper. Took you long enough. Let's go."  
Jasper was all too glad to get into the Rover and out of the slightly-creepy woods. Bellamy didn't let Raven drive (with good reason) so Jasper and Raven had time to catch up in the back.

"How was Polis?" he asked.  
Raven shrugged. "They're getting more anxious about the militias and stuff, but at least the tech trade's still thriving."   
"You bring anything good back for Monty?" Miller asked from shotgun.  
Raven grinned. "You know it! I'd never let him down."  
"That's what I like to hear." Jasper bumped her shoulder with his own. "It's good to have you back."  
"Good to be back, boys. Thanks for coming to get me."  
~  
The sun was just starting to paint the clouds pink when the Rover pulled through the militia's gates. Bellamy was the first one out of the cab and barely stayed long enough to make sure that everyone was okay and settled in. Raven was all too happy to go crash in her own cabin again, having missed her sweet tech setup and comfortable bed. Given the early hour, she figured she'd go and greet the rest of her friends in the later morning.

Bellamy made a beeline for Medical once he had finished his job for the night. He couldn't wait to see Clarke. She was curled up on her bed and he noticed Octavia sprawled out on another. He smiled and toed off his boots at the foot of Clarke's bed, climbing in beside her. She stirred in her sleep, cuddling up against his chest, and he rubbed her belly until he fell asleep.


End file.
